Domestic Bliss
by lonesomeloser
Summary: The most chaotic seven years in the history of the universe have finally come to a close and the kids, who are now all adults, have to settle back into normal life free of the GC danger. But just because the tribulation is over, doesn't mean the adventures stop. JuddxVicki, ConradxShelly, possible future RyanxDarrion and other developing friendships/relationships.
1. Introduction

**Helllloooooooooooo. So this is a new fic I'm starting after becoming re-obsessed with these totally underrated books. It follows the kids lives post-tribulation and as they return to normal lives, the things that take place in and amongst them. It's basically exploring how the adventures of life can be found in the every day, not just in the extraordinary times. I obviously don't own these books or characters because, let's face it, if I did, JuddxVicki would have happened a loooooooooooong time ago. :) Enjoy and review!**

* * *

**INTRODUCTION**

"It's over." Vicki half sobbed, half laughed, throwing a hand over her mouth. "It's finally over."

Judd wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side, "We're finally free, honey." He smiled, planting a kiss on the side of her head, "We have the next thousand years to live in peace."

Vicki grinned up at him, "I can't imagine anyone I would rather spend the next thousand years with."

Judd leaned down and kissed his wife softly and passionately as they both revelled in the fact that their lives were finally going to be returning to semi-normality.

"Hey, you two! Get a room!"

The couple broke apart and looked behind them towards the voice coming from over the hill. There was Ryan standing with his arms crossed with a look of feigned disgust on his animated face.

The two ran to their friend and engulfed him in a huge embrace.

"Ryan, it's so good to see you!" Vicki exclaimed, crying again, "I can't believe this is real and you're alive!"

"_I_ can't believe you two got married." Ryan laughed, "Actually that's a lie. I could see that coming a mile off."

"Hey!" Judd scolded, punching him lightly.

"Come on man, everyone knew you two would end up together except you two." A new voice responded.

The trio turned as Lionel joined them and they welcomed him into their group hug.

"It's been a while since it was just the four of us." Judd noted.

"Can you believe what we just experienced?" Vicki asked, "We just survived the craziest seven years in all of the history of the universe."

"Well some of us didn't." Ryan pointed out with a smirk.

"How do you even return to normal life after something like this?" Lionel asked. "I mean, I just watched my arm grow back. How can you just return to living an average life after all we've seen?"

"Well I know I'm looking forward to it." Judd smiled.

"Me too." Vicki said, arm still around Judd's waist.

"Yeah, I suppose you guys have plenty of like, married people stuff to do." Ryan smirked.

"Dude…" Lionel squirmed, not wanting to know what "married people stuff" Judd and Vicki had to do.

"Man, that's so _not_ what I meant." Ryan retorted.

Vicki smiled. It was good to hear those two arguing again. Back in the earlier days of the tribulation, Vicki would have given anything to stop Lionel and Ryan from being at each others throats, but after Ryan died, she would have given anything to hear that sound again, and now, it was the sweetest sound in the world. Everything was alright again.

There were of course still practical things that needed to be done. For one, the kids all wanted to return to the States, and they all needed somewhere to live. It took a few weeks before everyone was settled into their new homes. They all took up residence in the same neighborhood. Judd and Vicki bought a small single-story place in Mount Prospect where they finally got to start a normal married life. Lionel, Ryan, Conrad, Mark and John got a place just down the road, while Shelly, Chaya, Darrion, Melinda and Janie got a place across the street. Returning to normal life was strange. Vicki was worried that it would be boring considering what they'd all been through, but that was not the case. If anything, she appreciated the everyday a lot more now, and she was sure that just because they weren't living in danger anymore, didn't mean they wouldn't have anymore adventures.


	2. Chapter 1: The Anticipation

**Hooray for a quick update! Don't get used to it, because I can be very bad at doing this. Thanks for reviewing if you did, I appreciate it. This chapter is T for good measure, for some husband/wife canoodling ;) nothing too bad. Happy reading!**

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The sun shone through the window of Judd and Vicki's bedroom, and gently woke Vicki up. She awoke, half-sprawled across her husband, her head on his rising and falling chest, and her arm flung over his body. He was still fast asleep, but Vicki didn't mind. She just closed her eyes and listened to his heart beating under her head. She'd been married to this man for over a year now, but still she couldn't believe how blessed she was. When the rapture had first occurred, nothing could convince her that anything good would come out of it. And that arrogant, rich boy from the classy part of town that she met at the church? Well, no way did she imagine that she would fall in love with him. She lost her whole family in the rapture, but she gained a new family, and now, when she thought of what her life might look like if Jesus hadn't chosen that time to return it sent shivers down her spine. If the rapture hadn't happened, she would probably have never found Christ, she'd still be a mess, and she would have never met the amazing man that she now got to call her husband. And amazing he was. He was a leader, he was brave and strong and handsome. He loved Jesus and he loved her. Vicki smiled at her own thoughts and Judd stirred underneath her.

Judd felt like he'd just had the best sleep he'd ever had in his life, and smiled when he woke up to the red hair of his beautiful wife splayed across his chest. When Judd had married Vicki, he'd felt like all his Christmases had come at once. She was everything a Christian man would want in a wife. She was charming, smart, brave, compassionate and was completely beautiful, inside and out. He felt like the luckiest guy alive.

She lifted her head to look up at him.

"Morning sunshine." She smiled in a sleepy voice.

"Morning." He replied.

She reached up and kissed him, slowly, and drowsily, still in the process of waking up. Judd smiled against her lips. This was his life now; this beautiful wife that he loved with all his heart.

Suddenly feeling cheeky, he rolled her over onto her back and took over the kiss, deepening it before trailing kisses down to her neck.

"Honey," Vicki giggled, "I think we need to get up. We've got the lunch at the girls place today."

"It can wait." He said between kisses.

Vicki laughed, "No seriously. It's…" she glanced over at the clock, "It's 11:30 Judd! We're supposed to be there by midday."

It was clear to her that Judd wasn't going to let up, so she just surrendered and flopped back on her pillow.

It hadn't been longer than thirty seconds before the phone next to their bed rang, "Hon, I need to get that."

"They'll call back." Judd replied, clearly distracted.

"Judd, I'm answering the phone." Vicki said.

"Fine, just don't put me on." Judd continued on his way.

Vicki grabbed the phone, trying to ignore her husband, "Hello?"

"Hey Vick, it's Shell."

"Hey Shell, what's up?"

"You guys are coming today right?" Shelly asked.

"Yeah, why?" Vicki asked.

"Oh, just wanted to make sure. There's just something that I want everyone to hear so…"

Judd, obviously annoyed that his wife was ignoring his attention, decided it would be fun to mess with her while she was on the phone. He ran his fingers up her side.

"Yeah, we'll be-" Vicki shrieked.

"Vick, are you okay?" Shelly asked.

"Yeah I'm FINE!" she laughed again, swatting Judd away with her free hand. "Stop it!" She mouthed at him.

"Um… am I interrupting something?" Shelly asked awkwardly, a smirk in her voice.

"No," Vicki laughed, "It's fine. We'll be there."

"Awesome," Shelly replied, "Oh, and would you be able to grab a dessert to share?"

"Yep, sure thing. See you then." Vicki hung up the phone.

She playfully punched her husband who was still hovering above her.

"Don't _do_ that while I'm on the phone!" she scolded.

"I'm sorry," he flirted returning to caressing her neck and shoulders with his lips, "I can't help it! You're just too hard to resist."

* * *

Shelly flitted around the house, making sure everything was ready for the guests. It was the first time the former Young Trib Force were reuniting after the glorious appearing, and Shelly wanted to make sure everything was perfect. But she had other things on her mind; for one, the announcement that she was making that day.

"Shelly, for crying out loud, relax!" ordered Darrion, as Shelly adjusted a vase of flowers for the umpteenth time.

"I just want everything to be perfect okay?" Shelly defended.

"Everything's fine. Why are you so up tight?"

Shelly sighed, wondering the same thing, "I don't know. I just want everything to go well today."

Shelly almost jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang, she was so tense.

When she answered it, it was Conrad. He stood there with a big smile on his face and a bunch of flowers. "You ready?" he challenged.

"Yeah. I think so. I'm kind of nervous."

"Don't be." He smiled, giving her a quick, light kiss, "It's going to be fine."

The two returned to the kitchen and Shelly went about putting the new flowers in another vase.

Darrion groaned, "Why did you give her flowers? She's just spent the last hour rearranging those ones."

Shelly shot her a look and she backed off.

"Where are the others?" Shelly asked Conrad.

"Mark and John went to the butchers to get the meat for the barbeque and Lionel and Ryan are probably arguing over what sodas to get." Conrad chuckled.

"Awesome." Shelly replied, the girls went out to get salads and snacks, Vicki and Judd are bringing dessert and Darrion…" Shelly indicated to the couch that Darrion was lying on. "Well Darrion's doing that."

* * *

"I knew we'd be late." Vicki huffed as she checked her watch for the third time on the walk over to the girl's house.

"Worth it." Judd said in a sing-songy voice, looking a little too pleased with himself.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a dishevelled Shelly.

"Where have you guys been?" she snapped, grabbing the dessert from Vicki, "We've been waiting for you!"

"Jeez, nice to see you too Shel." Vicki replied.

"Sorry." Shelly shook her head, "I'm just so tense today."

"Why?" Judd asked.

Shelly smiled knowingly, "You'll see why."

* * *

**What's eating Shelly? ****_Tune in next time to find out! _****But really, reviews are appreciated.**

**Peace x**


	3. Chapter 2: The Announcement

**Well this happened. I wasn't even going to update again yet, but the ideas flowed and then BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH stuff occurred and I realised that this is turning into Left Behind; The Soap Opera. BUT I'M OKAY WITH THAT.**

**Enjoy. I don't own LBTK etc. etc.**

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"They're here finally!" announced Shelly as she led Judd and Vicki into the living room/kitchen. They were greeted by an array of friendly faces.

Judd couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. Seeing all his friends back in one place, in one peaceful place. It then occurred to Judd, that he had never in his life been with all these people in such a normal everyday setting. He did so much of life with them over the last seven years, but there was nothing normal about it. He'd watched the world get torn apart, he'd watched some of these people die and now, here they were, all happy, peaceful and in one place. And so very… normal. It was almost as if the rapture had never happened, although, Judd realised, if it hadn't, he would never have met any of these amazing people.

Hugs and back-slaps were given all around as the friends reconnected once more.

"It's so good to see you, man." Judd grinned as he slapped John Preston on the back.

"You too. It's been a while." John smiled.

"What you did on that sub… that was incredible. I don't know if I could have done it." Judd was finally able to say to his brave friends face.

"I'm sure you would have heard from God, and in that moment, he would have given you the strength." John said, "Besides, you did some pretty crazy brave things after I was gone. I'm just disappointed I missed all this."

John nodded towards Vicki, "How did you two go from verbal sparring partners to wedded bliss, huh?"

Judd laughed, "It really is a long story."

"Mark told me some of it," John said, "But he didn't say much. He didn't really want to talk about it."

Judd sighed, "Well, when I stopped being Vick's, as you put it, verbal sparring partner, Mark kinda took on that role."

"Ohhh." John nodded, "Okay. Yeah he did say they had some tough times."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure everyone's over it now." Judd said, "It's hard to be mad at anyone in this world."

"Too true, my friend, too true."

* * *

Judd took a spare seat on the sofa next to Mark and Vicki sat on his knee.

"Ok, everyone." Announced Shelly, "I have to admit, I had a hidden agenda inviting you all here today."

The group mumbled amongst themselves, confused as to what could be going on.

"Conrad?" Shelly motioned towards her boyfriend and he joined her where she was standing. She gave him a knowing glance as he put his arm around her shoulders and they both exclaimed simultaneously, "We're getting married!"

The room erupted in hoots and hollers of joy. Vicki launched herself off Judd's lap and almost knocked Shelly over in excitement.

"I'm so happy for you Shel!" she cried, feeling as girly as she had ever felt in her entire life. "I am going to be your Maid of Honor right?" Vicki smiled.

"Of course." Shelly grinned, "But wait, I think it's Matron of Honor, because you're married."

"Ew." Vicki screwed her nose up, "Matron. That sounds so old."

The two were joined by the other girls who all bounced around Shelly exclaiming their excitement for her.

The guys all crowded around Conrad.

"Congratulations man." Said Lionel.

"Married life, Conrad," Judd smiled, "You're gonna love it."

Mark rolled his eyes at Judd's comment.

Mark was of course happy for his friends, but whenever the talk of relationships or marriage came up, he wished he could tune out. Mark never had a problem being single. There'd never been anyone that he'd really been in love with. Well. Except for the one. The one, unobtainable one. He'd thought he was over Vicki. He really did. He didn't see any point in pining over her seeing as she was now married to one of his best friends, but whenever he saw her with him he got a knot in his stomach. An unmistakable knot of jealousy. He didn't hate Judd, he really didn't, and he didn't want to be so annoyed by his every move, but the reality was, he was ridiculously jealous of him. He had the one thing that Mark wanted, and couldn't have, and every time relationships or marriage were brought up, that's all he could think about. But he put on a smile and congratulated his friends.

* * *

"Let's see the ring then." Melinda teased.

Shelly blushed and took the little blue ring box out of her pocket, "I guess I can wear it now you all know."

She put the beautiful diamond ring on her finger and waggled it at her girlfriends.

"Can you believe this?" Darrion laughed. "This is the first time that we as a bunch of girls can celebrate something the normal way?"

"That's true." Vicki pointed out, "I mean, my wedding was great, but it wasn't exactly normal. But now, we can have bridal showers, and bachelorette parties, and actually have your wedding somewhere we can all be."

"Ok." Said Janie, "There's still one thing you haven't told us. How did he propose?"

Shelly blushed even redder, "Well, we kinda decided that this was where we wanted our relationship to go before the Glorious Appearing, but we decided to wait. So last night, he called me up and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner in the city, so we went to this really nice restaurant-"

"He didn't put the ring in your food did he?" Janie turned up her nose.

Shelly laughed, "No. It was after dinner. He drove us to the really secluded park up this hill, and from up there you could see all of the city lights and the Lake and it was a beautiful view and there was a swing set. He pushed me on the swing while we had a little talk about us and our future, and then he came around in front of me and went down on one knee and the rest is history."

"Aww!" the girls chorused.

"It was really sweet." Shelly was now beetroot red and giggling like a schoolgirl. "But I think Judd still wins the award for most memorable proposal."

Vicki rolled her eyes, "Don't remind me. He's lucky I decided to marry him and not kill him."

* * *

The rest of the lunch pretty much turned into an engagement party and was taken up with talk of the future bride and groom. When they all sat down for their meal, Judd grabbed his cup of soda and raised it in the air, "To the happy couple." He toasted, "the future Mr. and Mrs Graham."

The friends all raised their glasses in agreement as Shelly and Conrad shared a quick kiss.

"Keep it G-rated guys." Ryan interrupted, ruining the moment in perfect Ryan style.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Mark, still in his bad mood, noticed that Judd and Vicki had stolen away to the kitchen to get dessert ready.

"What did you even buy Vick?" Judd asked as he looked at the boxes all confused.

"It's a cake!" Vicki laughed at his ignorance.

"A build your own cake?" he asked.

"You just need to assemble the two tiers and then put this frosting on, it's not hard." She replied as she placed the top tier on the bottom.

Mark watched as Judd playfully got in Vicki's way as she tried to ice the cake. Standing behind her he put his finger under the icing tube, acquired some of the sweet pink frosting and quickly licked it off his finger.

"Hey!" she scolded, lightly elbowing him in the ribs.

"What, you want some?" he asked sticking a clean finger in the frosting and waving it in her face. Mark shuddered as she nipped the frosting off his finger. How could they be so… sickeningly adorable? That was the only way he could describe it really. If he hadn't had been so jealous of Judd, he might have thought they were the greatest couple he'd ever seen, but he couldn't get out of his mind the fact that he wanted to be that man that could tease her and stick frosting in her face. He watched the way her red hair brushed her shoulders, and the way her green eyes sparkled deep jade when she looked at Judd, and the way her smile lit up the room… mark shook himself out of it, _snap out of it man!_

He couldn't believe how hung up he was. This wasn't right. He shouldn't be so jealous, he really didn't want to be. But he couldn't deny it. Mark was still in love with his best friends wife.

* * *

**Oooooooooooh, drama. But jealous Mark is best Mark in my opinion. Also let's hear it for ShelRad! Oh and I soooooo enjoy writing adorable Jucki fluff. Those crazy kids are so cute. R&R!**


	4. Chapter 3: Renewing Old Friendships

**Thanks for the reviews guys. Just a quick note: I'm aware that technically, you'd think that with Jesus now reigning on earth things like Marks jealousy wouldn't be a thing, for the sake of the story, please just go with it. Let's face it, a story with no conflict is kinda boring, which is what makes post-tribulation fics so difficult. Maybe down the road I can go into it more, but for now, just bear with me and enjoy the friendly fluff and whathaveyou. Enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm so happy for them." Vicki said as she took a spoonful of cake.

"I know. They're going to love it." Judd replied.

"Hey guys?" Conrad interrupted, Shelly in tow, "We were thinking, before we get married, we're going to do a pre-marriage course, but we also wanted to surround ourselves with married couples just to learn from and mentor us."

"Yeah," said Shelly, "And we're going to ask Buck and Chloe as well because they're a bit further down in the journey and we know you guys haven't been married for that long, but we really value your friendship and any advice you might have."

"We'd be honored!" Vicki smiled.

"Thanks so much guys." Conrad said, "We really appreciate it."

The happy couple flounced off to mingle with their other guests.

"Can you believe it? People coming to us for marriage advice?" Vicki laughed.

"I wouldn't have believed it a year ago, but we've come a long way." Judd pointed out.

"That's true," Vicki smiled, "I think we're pretty great together."

* * *

Darrion joined Ryan by the swimming pool in the girl's backyard.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey Darrion, what's up?" Ryan smiled.

Darrion smiled. After all she went through with Ryan, being kidnapped with him, their incredible escape adventure, not to mention the fact that if she had never met him, she would never have become a Christian, she was devastated when he died in that earthquake all those years back. She would be lying to say she had developed some feelings toward him. She couldn't help but notice how brave he was when they were being held hostage, and even though she had been as stubborn as a mule, she had admired his faith and his courage.

"It's so good to see you again." She said, a little shyly.

Ryan smiled a goofy, mouth-full-of-food smile, "It's good to see you too, Darrion."

"When you… died- wow, that feels so weird to say, I really wished that I had known you longer."

"Well you've got a thousand years to get to know me now so…" he joked.

Darrion smiled.

"Did I ever say thank you?" Darrion said suddenly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you did."

"Not just for helping me escape those guys, but…" Darrion began to sound a bit emotional, "Ryan, if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be here. I would be…"

"Darrion, don't think about that." Ryan said, turning from his food, he put his arm around her shoulder, "You're here now. God moves in mysterious ways."

Darrion smiled, _He sure does._

During the short time Darrion knew Ryan, she considered him to be her best friend. She hoped that now he was back, they could return to where they left off.

* * *

The party was winding down and John had noticed his cousin's somewhat grumpy demeanor. John and Mark had always been close. They weren't just cousins, they were best friends, and one could always tell when something was up with the other.

As they were leaving, John tapped Mark on the arm, "Dude, what's eating you?"

"Huh?" was Mark's only response, clearly distracted.

"You've been acting weird all afternoon."

"Weird? No I haven't."

"You totally have." John persisted.

"John, I'm fine, just drop it!" Mark argued.

John did. He was now surer than ever that something was up with his cousin. Mark never really was one to show his emotions, but John knew he had them.

_I've got to figure out what's wrong with that guy._

* * *

**Sorry for the short update, I was facing a bit of writers block this morning but decided to just write through it. By the way, I love cute Darryan (I'm just making up all these ship names as I go along lol). They're so adorbs. This fic is turning into a big ol' romance fest. SHIP AAALLLLLL THE CHARACTERS! R&R :)**

**Peace x **


	5. Chapter 4: Filling in John

**Yay. I updated again. Twice in one day. I'm probably updating too fast, but I'm just too keen. Anyway, here's another taste!**

* * *

Mark felt ashamed as he walked back to his place alone. John was heading back to the Thompson's place for a long awaited catch up. He'd invited him, but Mark didn't want to deal with that right now. Frankly, he thought that in this world, petty things like jealousy wouldn't exist. But he was still human as long as he was on earth, be that old earth or new earth, and he still had emotions. Mark often wondered what would have happened if he had told Vicki how he felt about her. He regretted how much he fought with her out of his jealousy and still felt bad that one of the last thoughts that ran through his mind before he died were of her. He just wanted things to be normal. He wanted to go back to being able to hang around the couple without every little thing Judd did bugging him. It wasn't Judd's fault, Mark realised, Vicki had chosen him. Right from the beginning, when he had first met Judd and Vicki at Nicolae High, he figured that they might have been more than friends, or if not at that point, would be one day, but he couldn't help but wonder, _what if?_

* * *

"Do you guys know what's up with Mark lately?" John asked his friends, pressing them for information.

Vicki was making coffee but stopped and looked up at the mention of Mark. She still shuddered when she thought of all they'd been through. How angry he'd gotten with her. She was sure he hated her back then. She felt like their friendship had been strained ever since. They'd made amends, but she felt like it would never go back to the way it was before they started fighting.

"No, why?" asked Judd.

"I don't know. He just seemed so weird today after Shelly and Conrad announced their engagement." Said John.

"Maybe he likes Shelly." Vicki let slip out, somewhat jokingly, before even thinking about it.

Judd and John both looked at her surprised.

"Why? Do you know something, Vick?" asked Judd.

"No, not at all, I was just thinking," Vicki turned over the thoughts in her mind, handing the guys their coffees, "Why would he act weird after that announcement if it didn't bug him for some reason?"

John looked thoughtful, but unsure.

"Enough of that." He changed the subject as the three sat down in the living room, "What I want to hear about is how this happened." John smiled, nodding to the couple.

Judd and Vicki looked at each other and Vicki blushed.

"Well we actually ended up being separated for years." Vicki started, "Judd and Lionel went to Israel and so much happened over there that I thought I'd never see him again." She discreetly laced her fingers between his and squeezed his hand. She still didn't like to think of the times she could have lost him.

"I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder," Judd took over, glancing at his wife with a twinkle in his eye, "because I grew up and changed so much in the time we were separated, God, I guess moulded me into a better man who was deserving of such an amazing woman."

John felt slightly awkward amidst the couples displays of affection, but at the same time was so happy that two of his best friends ended up the way they did.

"Anyway, I met a girl over in Israel," Judd said, "Who Vick was totally jealous of, by the way-"

"Hey!" Vicki exclaimed, slapping him lightly, "You were totally jealous of Chad!"

"I was! Pretty boy…"

"Uh guys?" John asked, amused at their banter, "the story?"

"Oh right." Judd said, "Sorry. Anyway, this girl that I guess I was kinda seeing eventually got fed up with me because I wouldn't take the next step in our friendship. She was really discerning, because she later told me in a letter that she thought that was because there was someone else… and there was."

"So we decided to renew our friendship." Vicki finished, "We apologised for all the stupid fights we had and well, the rest, as they say, is history."

"Wow," said John, leaning back and folding his arms, "I'm sorry I missed all that."

"Well here's a question for you." Vicki asked, wide-eyed, "What was Heaven like?"

John sighed, "Heaven was amazing."

"Is that all?" Judd asked with a laugh.

"Look," John explained, "Human words cannot describe Heaven in a way that does it justice. Heaven is everything you've every imagined it to be and more, where every second is spent worshipping God and everything is beautiful."

Vicki smiled, "I like the sound of that."

* * *

Ryan lay on his bed, tossing a baseball up in the air and catching it and thought about his encounter earlier with Darrion. He'd always cared about her. They were best friends. They'd been through things that people should never have to go through. They'd done so many crazy things together, and it brought them closer. Ryan always thought she was cute, but he'd never really thought about her as more than a friend… until now. He shook his head, he didn't want to just be hopping on the romance bandwagon, just because his friends were, but he had to admit, their encounter earlier had been different. He felt that maybe, there could be something there.

Suddenly he heard frustrated grunting and saw Mark walk past his door and kick a shoe that was on the floor.

"Mark? Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

* * *

"Yeah I'm fine." Mark brushed off as he kept walking down the hall.

Mark was anything but fine. He was annoyed at himself for letting this ridiculousness eat him up inside.

_I'm sure it's just a bad day. _He thought. _I'll just get some sleep, and I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning._

* * *

**So there was that. Hopefully Mark will stop being a sook soon and move on. And is Ryan developing some Darrion feelings? I think maybe.**


	6. Chapter 5: Love is in the Air

**Yay another update! Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate it. I'm afraid this chapter isn't that eventful, mostly it's fluff, but I was suffering serious writers block. But it's ok because I have bigger and better plans for future chapters so hang in there! Another T chapter for married couples canoodling :) .. nothing too bad. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Well love is in the air isn't it?" Judd said putting his arm around Vicki and pulling her in tight.

John had gone home and Judd and Vicki were finally alone, huddled on the couch.

"It sure is." Vicki smiled, "We're going to have married couple friends that we can do married couple things with! There are gonna be _so_ many double dates."

"You know what my favorite thing about being married is?" Judd asked, turning his head to the side, his nose almost touching hers.

"What?"

"It's that when the day is done, and everyone goes home to their own places, I don't have to leave you."

He gently lifted her chin with his hand and placed an ever-so-light kiss on her pink lips.

"I like that too." She smiled back.

This time she kissed him with everything she had, and he retaliated until the two were locked in a passionate battle of lips.

Judd pushed his fingers into her red hair and cupped her face, "You are way too beautiful for me."

Vicki blushed, "Don't say that. I did marry you, did I not?" she shut him up with another kiss, this time pushing him back on the couch until he was lying flat and she was hovering above him. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too." He replied, pushing her hair behind her ear and then moving his hand to cup her neck and pull her into another kiss.

"Do you want move this into the other room?" Vicki smiled knowingly.

Before she knew it, Judd had, despite being under her, overpowered her and lifted her into his arms as he stood, "I sure do."

* * *

Shelly couldn't stop smiling, or staring at her ring. She didn't want to be one of those girls who would be totally engrossed with her engagement ring and talk constantly about her upcoming wedding, but already, she could tell that that wasn't going to happen. All her guests had gone home and she was more than pleased with how the day went. She was left tidying the kitchen with Darrion and Chaya, while Melinda and Janie cleared up the living room and back yard, but she kept getting distracted by her own left hand. Darrion caught her in the act.

"It's still there Shel." She joked.

Shelly blushed, "I know, I just can't believe I'm getting married."

Chaya smiled, "We couldn't be happier for you."

Chaya hadn't met Conrad before the Millennium began as she died before he came into the Young Trib Force's lives, but she'd met him as soon as she'd been reunited with the girls and approved right away.

"Girls. I have something I have to ask you." Shelly said, looking at her friends seriously. "I already asked Vick to be my maid of honor, and I'd love if you girls could be my bridesmaids."

Darrion and Chaya squealed with delight and embraced their friend.

"Of course!" Chaya exclaimed.

"I'd also love Melinda and Janie to be involved in some way, but you girls, I've known the longest." Shelly explained.

"I can't wait!" Darrion cried, "This is the first overtly feminine thing I've done in over seven years!"

The girls all laughed.

"Yeah. It sure is going to be fun. All the planning and dress fitting!" Shelly was beaming. She couldn't wait to share this important time in her life with her best girlfriends, and she couldn't wait to be married to the man she loved.

Conrad was walking on air. He was absolutely elated. He girl he was marrying was perfect. To think he would never have met her if he hadn't found himself in the GC camp, being trained to be one of their goons. What seemed like the worst situation led him to meeting Lionel, which led him to meeting the woman he would call his wife. As he walked back to his place, he couldn't wipe the smile off him face. He planned on making Lionel his best man, and hoped that Judd, Mark and John would be groomsmen. There was so much to plan, but he couldn't wait.

As he lay in his bed that night staring at the ceiling, he couldn't help but think of Shelly. The sooner the day when they could be together all the time came, the better.

* * *

**Even I'm looking forward to the Graham/Brown wedding. Yaaaaaaaaay weddingssss! R&R.**

**Much love x**


	7. Chapter 6: New Revelations

**I literally can't hold back updates on this thing. As soon as I write them I can't even hold them for a day, I HAVE TO SHARE THEM IMMEDIATELY. I hope that's ok. Enjoy!**

* * *

_"Hey Darrion?" Ryan walked up to her, a shy smile on his face._

_"Ryan!" she greeted him, "What's up?"_

_He traced patterns on the floor with the toe of his shoe._

_"Um. I was wondering…" he asked, not really able to make eye contact, "If it wasn't much trouble. If…"_

_He heart was beating like crazy. Just ask her! She's your friend!_

_"If you wanted to go out with me sometime?" he heard the words come out of his mouth and couldn't believe he'd said it. It was like he was outside of his body, watching him ask Darrion Stahley out on a date._

_She smiled her sweet smile and her eyes lit up. "Sure!" she exclaimed, "I'd love to!"_

_"Great!" Ryan's face lit up too, "I'll pick you up tonight and we can go grab dinner in town?"_

_"Sounds good to me."_

_"Because she's not available! Not even slightly! Now leave me alone!"_

_What?_

Ryan was not impressed that he was woken up so abruptly by someone shouting the last words of his dream downstairs. His dream was, up until then… really great actually. It really made him think. Did he have a big crush on Darrion? _It was just a dream, _he told himself, but he couldn't help but notice that his heart beat a little faster now he was awake, not to mention the fact that he felt slightly disappointed that it was just a dream.

* * *

The next day when Mark opened his eyes, he felt like only a small portion of the weight he had on this shoulders from the day before had been lifted. He felt better, but he still had a heavy heart. He got up and had a shower, trying to wash what was left of his bad mood away and did all he could to forget about those little feelings that were just niggling away at him.

He went downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast and found only his cousin was up.

"Morning." He grunted.

"Morning." John replied, eyeing him with a mouthful of breakfast cereal.

"What?" Mark asked as he poured himself a bowl.

"So?" John pressed.

"What?" Mark repeated, obviously irritated

"Are you ready to tell me what your problem was yesterday?" John enquired.

"No." Mark replied, "I mean I didn't have a problem."

"You can't lie to me, Mark." John said putting his empty bowl in the sink and rinsing it, "I know you too well. And I could tell you were acting weird. Judd and Vicki thought so too."

"Oh did they?" Mark said, annoyed.

"Yep." John said. "I went to their place after the party. Vicki brought up an interesting point."

Mark internally groaned at the mention of her name, "Did she now?"

"I don't know if that's the reason…" John said, "it was just a suggestion really, but I thought it made a bit of sense."

"What did she suggest?" Mark said, clearly on the defensive.

"She suggested that maybe it's because, you are… caught up on… someone." John said carefully.

Mark's heart started pounding, terrified that somehow, despite it being impossible, she'd figured it out.

"Who exactly?" he managed

"Mark, do you like Shelly?" John asked matter-of-factly.

Mark breathed a sigh of relief.

"What? No!" Mark exclaimed, "Not Shelly."

He immediately kicked himself for the way he phrased that sentence and prayed that John wouldn't pick up on it.

"Not Shelly?" John repeated. "Then someone else?"

Mark groaned, knowing he'd been caught out.

"No, no one else." He defended.

"Mark," John sighed, "I know when you're lying. Again, I know you too well."

"Just drop it, John!"

"I'm not going to drop it." John persisted, "It's clear that something is bothering you, and if you talk about it, you'll probably feel better with it off your chest."

"John, nothing is going to make me feel better about it!" Mark said, as loudly as he could without shouting and waking up his sleeping housemates.

"If you can't talk to me about it, who can you?"

"I don't want to talk to anyone about it!" Mark argued.

"Mark, if you have girl dramas going on, I'm sure they'll work out, you've never had any problems in the past." Said John

Pre-rapture, Mark had been quite the catch in high-school. He was always confident and smart, and usually got plenty of attention from girls.

"John." Mark said, annoyed at his cousins persistence. "This is so not going to work out!"

Mark knew that if he did talk to someone about his issues, he'd feel better, but who could he talk to about the fact that he was caught up on one of his friend's wives'?

"Why not?"

Mark finally lost it.

"Because," he shouted, without thinking, "She's not available! Not even slightly! Now leave me alone!"

And with that he stormed out, back upstairs and John heard his bedroom door slam.

John shook his head. He wished his cousin would just come out with it. He honestly wanted to help him with whatever was bugging him. He hated to see him so worked up and if he would just opened up to him…

All of a sudden, a light bulb went on in John's head… and it freaked him out.

Mark was caught up on a girl. He'd made that obvious.

She wasn't available.

She wasn't Shelly.

John didn't like where his train of thought was going.

He thought about what he'd been told about the fighting that went on between him and another Young Trib Force member.

He knew that Mark wasn't very good at handling emotions, and had a tendency to lash out at people when he was feeling certain emotions… like jealousy.

The pieces where falling into place in his mind, and it worried him, but he was sure it had to be. It couldn't be anyone else.

Vicki.

* * *

**Uh oh. Mark's lost it. John's figured out his secret. WHAT'S HE GON DO? But Ryan has a little crush happening! Oooooooooooooooooooooooooh. R&R**

**Love you all**

**x**


	8. Chapter 7: The Girl Arrives in Chicago

**Thanks so much for the enthusiastic reviews! It makes me want to keep writing more and more! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I hope to take it to new and interesting places soon! Enjoy!**

* * *

The girl felt completely in over her head. As her plane touched down at the newly rebuilt O'Hare Airport she wondered if coming here had been a mistake. The busyness of the airport overwhelmed her as she rushed through the terminal to find her way to the baggage carousel. People everywhere. None of whom she'd even seen before. This was a new city, huge and confusing, and she had no idea where she was going, but she had people she wanted to see. And people she wanted to meet. She hadn't had the chance before the Glorious Appearing, but now, she wanted to find them. She exited the airport and hailed a taxi.

"Where to ma'am?" the driver asked as she climbed in, out of breath.

"Mount Prospect." She said. "Take me to the church there."

* * *

John didn't know if he should follow Mark and talk to him or leave him alone for a while. He opted for the latter and put on some shoes to go for a walk. He needed to think. Now he had this information he felt a responsibility. Should he tell Vicki? He felt like she had the right to know why Mark had been so snappy at her in the past. He shook his head as he took off at a jog. He didn't want to have that conversation. He really didn't want Judd knowing about this. Judd and Mark had always been great friends and John didn't want to ruin anything anymore than it already was. He decided that once Mark cooled off, he's try to talk to him. But what would he talk to him about? He couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

By the time Ryan dragged himself out of bed, Lionel was awake downstairs and getting his breakfast.

"What was with that yelling this morning?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't know. I think Mark and John had a fight." Lionel replied making a cup of coffee.

"It sounded like it was about a girl." Ryan said, sitting at the counter.

"Don't speculate." Lionel scolded, "But yeah, it did."

"Do you think that's why he's been acting like a bear with a sore head lately?"

"Maybe. But we shouldn't jump to any conclusions." Lionel said, "And we definitely shouldn't gossip."

"Do you reckon it's about Shelly?" Ryan smirked.

"What? Why Shelly?" Lionel said before catching himself, "No, just forget about it."

"But I heard him say she wasn't available and he seemed to get annoyed after Shelly and Conrad announced their engagement." Ryan explained.

"Ryan, quit it!" Lionel exclaimed, "We shouldn't be gossiping about it. It's none of our business."

"Fine," Ryan surrendered, "But do you want to talk about something that is my business?"

Lionel looked at him curiously, "What?"  
"Well, speaking of girl problems…" Ryan said.

"Dude." Lionel exclaimed, keen to hear was Ryan was talking about.

"You're like my brother, Lionel, so you can't tell anyone." Ryan ordered, pointing at him.

"Ok, I swear," Lionel said, impatiently, "Now tell me!"

"Well." Ryan scratched his head, "I think… I like somebody."

"What do you mean you _think_ you like somebody?" Lionel asked.

"Well, fine," Ryan said throwing his hands in the air, "I _do_ like somebody."

"Who is it?" Lionel pressed.

"You can probably guess." Ryan said, still shy about it.

"Seriously, tell me." Lionel said.

"Who do you think it would be?" Ryan asked, "Who did I spend a lot of time with before I died?"

"Well all of us, Ryan." Lionel said, "Narrow it down."

"We spent a lot of time together… trying to escape…"

"Darrion?" Lionel guessed.

"Yup." Ryan said, turning red.

"Dude." Lionel laughed, "That's awesome. Well, do you think she feels the same way?"

"I don't know." Ryan said, "But we had an interesting moment at the party yesterday."

"How interesting?" Lionel asked.

"Well, I was sitting outside eating and she comes out and sits by me and just starts thanking me for everything I'd ever done for her."

"Well that's understandable." Lionel said, "You did help her escape kidnappers. And you led her to Christ."

"Yeah," he said, "But she'd thanked me for that before. But she almost seemed… more interested in me than she had been ever before."

Lionel raised an eyebrow.

"You never know, man," he smiled, "Unless you ask."

"But how can I ask her?" Ryan exclaimed. "What if she doesn't feel anything and then rejects me and then things get awkward between us?"

"I think it would be fine." Lionel reassured him, "I think if you just ask if she wants to hang out with you and go get a coffee or something. It doesn't have to be huge, just spend some time together and work on your friendship even more."

Ryan thought about it. Lionel was right. It wouldn't be a big deal if he just asked her to hang out.

"Ok." Ryan said, "That sounds like a plan. I'll just ask her if she wants to hang out."

"I gotta run." Lionel said, grabbing his keys, "We're having a family reunion thing at my parents house, I said I'd get there early to help set up."

"Ok, see ya." Ryan waved over his shoulder as he ate his cereal and thought about asking Darrion to hang out with him.

_God, if it's okay with you,_ he prayed, _Please let her say yes._

* * *

When the driver dropped her at New Hope Village Church, the girl wondered what her next step would be. She knew that they had all once lived here, in the early years of the Tribulation. This was where they came from. She had no idea if this was where they lived now. For a second, she felt worried that she would never be able to find them.

_God,_ she prayed, _Please, help me. Guide my steps and lead me so I can find my friends._

* * *

**Oooh mystery! Who's the girl? Tune in next time to find out!**


	9. Chapter 8: Past Love

**Woo! Update time! Go, go, go!**

* * *

The girl didn't know in her own mind where she was going, but her steps just seem to come to her and she managed to find a street in the suburb that she felt deep down that was where she needed to be. She walked down the left hand side of the road, looking at houses, hoping that one of them would be the one she needed. When she got to number 256 she stopped in her tracks. This was it. She felt that this was the house she needed. She took a deep breath, nervous about what was going to happen next. She walked up to the white door and knocked four times, heart racing.

She heard footsteps inside until she heard the door creak and a pretty young woman with shoulder-length red hair and big green eyes answered it with a smile.

"Hi." She said in her American accent.

"Um," the girl replied, "hello. I know this is very sudden and out of the blue but, I was wondering… do either Judd Thompson or Lionel Washington live here?"

"Yeah." The redhead replied, "Judd does."

"You're his wife?" the girl asked.

"I am." She replied, folding her arms.

"You're Vicki?"

She looked confused, "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"I'm Nada."

* * *

Vicki's chin nearly hit the floor, her eyes grew to the size of saucers and she couldn't say anything.

"I'm sorry." Nada said, "I completely understand if you don't want to talk to me but-"

"No," Vicki said, "Not at all. I'm just so surprised to see you."

Vicki remembered the contempt she once felt for this woman. The jealousy that coursed through her veins whenever Judd or Lionel mentioned her name in an email or phone call, the dread that had gripped her heart when she thought she would lose Judd forever to Israel and the new girl in his life. The utter guilt and remorse she felt when she found out that she was dead, and here she was. Alive and well. And in America. And at Vicki's front door.

"Come in." Vicki opened the door wider and welcomed Nada inside, "Honey?" she called to Judd, not sure if she was using that term of endearment for his ears or for Nada's as she marked her territory.

"Yeah?" he called back from the study.

"Can you come out here please?" Vicki called, "There's someone here who wants to see you."

* * *

Judd hadn't expected any visitors that day, and he was interested to see who was dropping around now.

"What's up, babe-" he was lost for words when he rounded the doorway and saw on his sofa, his wife and his once girlfriend, "Nada?"

"Hi." She said softly.

Judd was impressed that Vicki had welcomed her into the house and was now sitting beside her like an old friend. He had to admit, that if he had answered the door to that Chad guy that once liked her, he would have slammed it in his face, but this was just another reason why Vicki was such an amazing person.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting opposite the two girls.

She sighed, "I wanted to meet your friends, I wanted to see America… I wanted to see how you ended up after I…" she trailed off.

Judd was cautious. He did have a relationship with this girl in the past, and he definitely didn't want Vicki to feel uncomfortable, so he didn't say anything, in hopes that Vicki would.

In her usual compassionate way Vicki piped up, "Well, welcome to America!"

Nada's face softened with her kind words and she smiled.

"Thank you."

"Judd, we can totally introduce Nada to the others. I'm sure Lionel would be happy to see her again, and the others would love to meet you." Vicki said.

Judd just smiled. That was the woman he'd married. So kind and caring, putting others before herself.

"Sure," he said, "Everyone lives pretty close by. We can go visit everyone later if you wanted."

Nada grinned, "Thanks."

"Did you want to get freshened up?" Vicki offered, "You've come a long way."

"If it wouldn't be too much of a bother."

"No, it's no problem."

Vicki went and showed Nada where the bathroom was.

Judd scratched his head. This was not what he expected. He didn't think he'd ever see Nada again, and he'd decided that he'd rather that be the case. He didn't want anything to be awkward, and he certainly didn't want Vicki to be mad.

He heard the shower start and Vicki came back from the bathroom and walked silently to the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Judd asked worried.

"Hmm?" she looked over at him, "Nothing's wrong."

"That's a lie, Vick."

She sighed and her shoulders dropped.

"It's just…" she made an annoyed grunt, "I'm not exactly thrilled that she's here."

"But you acted so civil." He said.

"Yeah, because she's a guest, and I know I should treat her with respect and love, but…"

"What?"

"I'm sorry, but there is still a small part of me that wonders if…"

Judd got up from the sofa and went to his wife. He took her by the shoulders.

"What is it?"

"If she still has feelings for you." Vicki finished.

Judd wrapped her into a hug, "It doesn't matter if she still has feelings for me or not. Because I don't have any for her."

He rested his chin on the top of her head and she buried her face in his chest.

"You trust me, don't you Vick?" he asked.

"Of course I do." She said.

"Then believe me when I say that you are the only one." He said.

"I know that." She said, smiling up at him, "It's my own issue, Judd. And I have to deal with it. It's not you."

* * *

The hot water on Nada's back felt good after the long flight from Israel. She was thankful to God for showing her the way to this place, but she was still taken aback by who had met her at the door. She had guessed before she died, that the reason Judd wouldn't progress with their relationship was because she thought there had been someone back home in the States. She'd heard him and Lionel talk about their friend Vicki, and now she knew she had been correct in her assumption. There had been someone else, and now he was married. It annoyed her how nice Vicki was. She wished that she had given her a reason to dislike her, but she was so kind and sweet. She knew exactly who she was. Nada figured that Judd had told her about her. She really did want to meet the members of the former Young Trib Force, but she knew that now, this was going to be harder than she had thought.

* * *

**Oh the dramas. Next time on Left Behind: The Soap Opera... lol, but really this is turning into such a soapie. I'm loving writing it though, so let me know how you feel about it. **

**Peace**

**x**


	10. Chapter 9: Moving Forward

**Sorry I've been AWOL for a little bit. I've been reading these great books again, you may have heard of them. They're called LEFT BEHIND: THE KIDS. So addicting. Anyway, I've been rereading them for a) my own entertainment and b) to come up with more ideas for this story as I hit a bit of a writers block lately. So I'm plotting some things and whatnot, so enjoy this overdue update!**

* * *

Vicki couldn't believe that her husband's ex-girlfriend was in her shower at this very moment. She had been doing the dishes when the knock on the door came and now she was back at the sink scouring them so vigorously that Judd thought she might just scrub the pattern right off. She was annoyed. There was no other way to say it. She had played it cool, and she did trust Judd, she really did. She wasn't annoyed at Judd, she was annoyed at _her_. Why was she really here? Did she really just want to meet Judd's friends and see America? Or had she come still with feelings for Judd and hopes that maybe her assumption that he had someone else was incorrect? _Why does she have to be so pretty? _Vicki thought before catching herself.

Nada came out of the hall, in fresh clothes and with clean hair. Vicki forced the most friendly smile she could muster.

"Do you want to come and meet the girls?" Vicki asked, "I was headed over that way this morning anyway."

"Sure," Nada smiled, "I'd love to."

"Awesome," Vicki replied. She shot a look at Judd, "Honey, we're going to the girls place."

Judd looked up from his book, "Ok. Have fun."

She could tell Judd was studying this interaction between wife and ex-girlfriend and he looked so confused.

_Poor guy,_ she thought, _he doesn't deserve this._

* * *

Shelly was expecting a visit from Vicki this morning, as they were going to be talking about the upcoming wedding, but when the doorbell rang, she didn't expect Vicki to have company. When she answered the door Vicki had a somewhat pained look on her otherwise smiling face, the girl with her looked a little older and completely unfamiliar.

"Hey Vick." Shelly greeted.

"Shelly," Vicki said, "I'd like you to meet Nada."

Shelly's eyes widened and she put a hand out to greet her guest.

"Um, hello." She said shaking Nada's hand.

"Hello." Nada replied, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Shelly was confused, she recognised the name. _No. This couldn't be the same person._

"Come in girls." Shelly said, "I'll introduce you to the others."

Shelly led Vicki and Nada inside and introduced Nada to Darrion, Chaya, Melinda and Janie before pulling Vicki aside.

"Um. What the heck is going on?" Shelly demanded in a hushed tone.

"Beats me." Vicki said, clearly annoyed, "I was just doing the dishes and then my husbands ex-girlfriend who _died_ is standing on my doorstep looking for him."

"So it is the same Nada."

"Of course it's the same Nada." Vicki snapped, "Who else would it be?"

"I can't believe this." Shelly said, "What nerve has she got to turn up looking for Judd?"

"She didn't know he was married." Vicki sighed.

"Yeah but she's been dead for over two years and from what you said, she suspected he had feelings for someone else when she was alive, so wouldn't she assume that maybe he's moved on?" Shelly asked.

"I don't know what to do Shel." Vicki scratched her head, "She's come all the way from Israel. I don't know if she expects us to put her up while she's here, or if she's going to a hotel…"

"You can't put her up at your place." Shelly said.

"I don't want to at least. I could." Vicki replied.

"No." Shelly argued, "You can't have her staying at your house. That's way too awkward. What did Judd say?"

Vicki sighed, "He was as shocked as I was. I told him I was worried she might still have feelings for him and he just assured me that it didn't matter because he didn't have feelings for her and that he loves me."

Shelly smiled, "He's right, Vick. Judd's a good guy and he does love you. He probably feels completely awkward about her being here, but her having feelings for him, if she still does, doesn't matter because he doesn't reciprocate them."

Vicki still looked stressed but Shelly's words seemed to reassure her.

"It's gonna be okay." Shelly squeezed her friends arm.

"I know." Vicki smiled weakly.

* * *

When John got back from his run, he found that Mark had finally freed himself from his bedroom and was reading his bible and writing in his journal.

John didn't want to open up another can of worms with his cousin, but he was dying to know if his hunch about Vicki was true. He decided to hold his tongue, but Mark spoke first.

"I'm a terrible person." Mark said matter-of-factly, without looking up from his book.

"Go on."

Mark looked up at him, "As my cousin, that was your cue to say, 'no you're not'".

John smiled, "But I want to know why you think you're such a terrible person."

Mark shook his head back into his book, "I just am."

"Mark, you can't say that and not follow through with your reasoning."

Mark closed his bible, "I'm a terrible person because I still have feelings for someone I can't ever be with."

John lowered his head, "Vicki?"

"What?" Mark said, surprised, "How did you-"

"I figured it out." John said. "How long?"

"A while." Mark said, "Since before she was married. I thought I would get over it when she married Judd. I thought I was over it, but I guess not quite."

John sighed, "You know you can't do anything about this right?"

"Of course!" Mark snapped, "What do you think I'm gonna do? Sweep into her house and steal her in the night?"

"Of course not." John laughed. "I just want to help you get through this."

"You can't tell anyone okay." Mark said, "Not a soul. Especially not her or Judd."

"No way I would tell them." John said. "But what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Mark scratched his head. "I guess pray about it. Ask God to help me move past it."

"Sounds like a good plan." John said. "You know what else we can do?"

"What?"

"Get you a girl." John smirked.

"Shut up." Mark socked him on the arm.

"Come on, man." John said, "There's got to be somebody else that you'd be interested in. There's a lot of great girls in our group."

Mark scratched his head. There had been one girl that he'd thought he'd had feelings for before he fell for Vicki, and then started thinking about her more after Vicki got married.

Mark sighed, "Maybe…"

* * *

**Come on Mark! Get over the married lady and find another great girl! I've always loved Mark and rereading the books made me love him again. He's so awesome, and he needs to find love!**

**Review if you please!**

**Peace x**


	11. Chapter 10: Getting Along

**Updaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime**

* * *

Nada was grateful for the warm greeting she received from the girls of the former Young Trib force, but she did sense some coldness from Shelly. She guessed why. Shelly seemed to be Vicki's best friend and Nada assumed that with that being the case, Vicki had probably told Shelly everything. But while Shelly was cold, Vicki was as friendly as ever.

"Where are you going to be staying Nada while you're here?" Darrion asked.

"Um. I'm not sure." Nada replied, "To be honest, I didn't really plan a lot of this trip. I just trusted that God would provide."

"You can stay at our place." Vicki said, and Shelly elbowed her in a failed attempt to be subtle.

"No." Nada said, "I can't do that. I wouldn't want to impose on you and Judd like that."

Shelly muttered something.

"It's fine." Vicki replied. "We have a spare room, we can put you up in there."

Vicki mentally kicked herself as she offered Nada her spare room, but something was compelling her to play host to this girl.

"Are you sure?" Nada asked, "Because I don't want to impose."

Vicki smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "It will be fine."

Vicki didn't know if she could believe herself.

* * *

After visiting with the girls, Vicki took Nada back to her house for lunch. Judd was preparing the food when they arrived.

"I'm going to go set up the guest room." Vicki said, "You two probably want to catch up."

Judd shot a look at Vicki and raised an eyebrow. She looked back and pulled a face that was barely readable.

Nada felt awkward watching this unspoken exchange of thoughts.

Vicki left the main living area and disappeared into the hall.

Judd glanced up from chopping tomatoes and looked at Nada.

"Have a seat." He offered, pointing to the stools on the opposite side of the kitchen counter.

She moved to the counter and hopped up onto one of the stools.

"So." She started, "I was correct then?"

"Sorry?" Judd said.

"I was correct in my assumption that you would not progress with our relationship because there was someone else." Nada remained composed.

Judd sighed, "Yeah."

Nada took a deep breath. "I don't think she likes me."

Judd smiled, "Vicki likes everyone. But you have to see why she might feel uneasy."

Nada nodded, "You never really told me about your friends over here. Tell me your story."

"Our story?"

"Of how you came to be together."

"I met Vick the day after the disappearances. She was a messed up kid from the local trailer park who would do anything to appear older and rebellious. She was pretty stubborn and had a lot of attitude." Judd smiled as he remembered, "I remember thinking she was pretty, but she was hiding behind a ton of black makeup and leather so I also thought she looked kinda scary.

"She kept me company when I had to go and find my dads car that I'd lost in the airport-" he raised his hand, "that is a long story in itself." Nada smiled.

"When I went to take her back home, her trailer had been burned to the ground, so I offered her a place to stay at my house."

"You lived together?" Nada said.

"Not in a sketchy way." Judd said, "She stayed on one floor and me on the other. My family had a pretty big house. We both became Christians at the same time and did a lot of life together along with Lionel and our other friend Ryan. We had some pretty crazy adventures, and we got really close. I had feelings for her, but I didn't think she felt the same way. We started fighting a lot. I was stubborn and bossy and never let her have a say. I was a real jerk." Judd looked down and shook his head, "We were on pretty bad terms when I left for Israel."

"And there you met me, and we happened, and then I… died." Nada said, "What happened then?"

"Well I got your letter and at first was in complete denial. But it didn't take me long to realise that you were right. But I thought she hated me for being such a jerk. It took me and Lionel a real long time to get back here, but we did eventually and I managed to patch things up with her. Turns out she didn't hate me and she had a thing for me all along. So we rekindled our friendship and then just became more than friends. We ended up getting married about a year before the Glorious Appearing."

"Did you make it to then?" she asked.

Judd smiled, "Yeah, we did. It was the single greatest moment of my life."

Nada lowered her head, "I'm sorry I came here."

"You don't need to be sorry." He said, throwing the tomatoes in the salad bowl, "But why did you come?"

"Judd, I love my family, but I had to get out." Nada said.

"Why?"

"You know what I'm like, Judd!" she laughed "I like doing things! Father was more protective of me than ever when we were reunited at the Glorious Appearing and hasn't really let me out of his sight since. And like I said, I wanted to meet the Young Trib Force."

"Did Vicki introduce you to the girls?"

"Yes." Nada nodded, "They were all really welcoming. Except the tall, dark haired one… Shelly I think?"

Judd smiled, "Shelly is Vicki's best girl friend and has been for years, so she probably felt obligated to be cold to you until Vick gave her the go ahead."

"Oh I see," Nada replied with a smile, "You two are really happy aren't you."

Judd looked her directly in the eye, "I have never been happier than I am with Vick. She's my best friend and I love her more than words could ever say."

Vicki came in from the guest room, "Did I miss anything?"

"Just talking about you." Judd smiled.

"Only good things I hope." Vicki smirked.

"Of course." Judd replied.

Nada smiled. She couldn't deny it. Judd was so happy. And despite any feelings she had for him in the past, seeing him that happy, made her heart happy, and any lingering feelings were washed away in that very moment.

* * *

Judd couldn't believe that Vicki was being so gracious in letting Nada stay with them. That night as they were getting ready for bed he let her know.

"You're incredible." He said as he sat on the bed and took his shoes off.

"Why?" she asked, brushing her teeth.

"I don't know many women who would let their husband's ex stay in their house."

Vicki smiled, "Judd, I wasn't thrilled when she turned up here, don't get me wrong, but Nada is a good person… and I'm not that insecure."

She flounced over to their bed and flopped in beside him, "Besides, I've got the ring."

Judd laughed, "You're a dork."

"You are." She teased, lightly punching his arm.

She snuggled in beside him and they both stared at the ceiling.

"You really are amazing though." He said, turning his head to face her.

"You are too." She smiled, rolling over and cuddling up to his side.

"Goodnight beautiful." He kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight." She replied.

* * *

Vicki smiled as she felt any resentment she felt towards Nada melt away. She was blissfully happy. She had over heard what Judd had said earlier. Her husband loved her and she knew it, and now maybe, she'd be able to become friends with Nada. She did seem like a lovely person. As she listened to the soothing heartbeat of the love of her life next to her, Vicki couldn't imagine being any happier than she was in that moment.

* * *

**Awwwwww Judd loves Vicki a lot. Duh, I've suspected that since book 1. And how great is Vicki? Maybe her and Nada can be BFF's now.**

**Peace x**


	12. Chapter 11: New Things

**Thanks sooooo much for the reviews! It makes me happy! Okay. Update. Go.**

* * *

Ryan took deep breaths as he paced back and forth in the kitchen. His housemates were all out and he was trying to rack up the courage to ask his long-time friend Darrion out.

"Come on, Ryan!" He said to himself, "It's not that hard, just say, 'Hey Darrion, wanna get a cup of coffee?'… No, that's lame."

He grunted. This was harder than he thought it would be. He didn't want to seem too forward, but he didn't want her to just think he only liked her as a friend. He looked out the front window. The girls lived in a house across from his and three houses down. From the window, he could see Darrion out the front hosing the lawn as she did every Saturday morning. He liked the way she wore her long brown hair in a high ponytail when she was working in the yard. When he'd met her, she had hair so short, he'd thought she was a boy before she spoke, but many years had passed since then and she seemed more feminine than ever. He gave himself one last moment to get his head together before he opened the door and tried to look as casual as possible as he walked to meet Darrion.

* * *

Darrion noticed in the corner of her eye someone headed her way with his hands in his pockets. A quick glance confirmed that it was Ryan. A small smile graced her lips and she continued hosing the front garden.

"Good morning, Ryan." She said, without looking from the garden.

"Hey." He said. "So, watering the plants, I see."

Darrion chuckled, "Why, yes I am."

"Cool."

Darrion felt butterflies in her stomach. She'd wanted him to have feelings for her and now he was acting so awkwardly she thought, maybe he did.

"Darrion?" he started, "So, I was wondering…"

"Yes?" she prodded.

"Well seeing as we haven't really hung out much since… I… got back. And we didn't really hang out much before without, you know, being held hostage… then maybe, we should… hang out?" Ryan blurted, incoherently.

Darrion giggled, "Ryan Daley, are you trying to ask me out?"

"Um." He said, studying his shoes, "Yeah?"

Darrion laughed, "Sounds good to me. Let's 'hang out' after I'm done here."

"Really?" Ryan replied, sounding surprised.

"Yes." Darrion smiled, "Do you want to go to the café down the road? We can walk there."

Ryan's eyes lit up, "Sure!"

Darrion grinned and shut off the hose. She rolled it up and put it away, and met Ryan around the front of the house.

"Shall we?"

"Cool." Ryan smiled and they set off down the street.

* * *

Judd was preparing lunch when he heard a voice call out.

"Hon?" Vicki called from the bathroom. She sounded calm, but at the same time, edgy.

He dropped what he was doing and ran to where her voice came from.

"Yeah?" Judd replied as he turned the corner into the ensuite.

Vicki was sitting on the edge of the bathtub holding a white stick in her hand with a look on her face that was a mix of joy and nervousness.

It took Judd a second to regroup and figure out what was going on. That stick? What was it? Then it all hit him and he was immediately overwhelmed.

"Is that…" he managed, "Is that what I think it is?"

"That depends," Vicki said studying the stick, "What do you think it is?"

"I think it's…" he couldn't say it, "I think it means…"

Vicki waved the stick in front of his flabbergasted face, revealing a little pink plus sign.

"Judd, we're going to have a baby."

For a second, the world stopped for Judd. Was she really telling him this? Was he really going to be a father? He looked at Vicki, her face was concerned, clearly awaiting his response.

"Are you gonna say something?" she asked.

Slowly an enormous smile spread across his face.

"Are you serious?" he said.

"Yeah." She said sighing with relief and dropping the stick in the bin.

She stood up and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped her into the biggest hug he'd ever given, a tear of joy rolling down his cheek.

"I love you." She said, laughing with a sniff.

"I love you." He replied loosening the embrace and looking down at his wife who had tears of her own rolling down her face.

He laughed as he wiped them away with his thumb.

"Do you think we can do this?" She said.

Judd just laughed, "Sweetheart, we survived the seven worst years in the history of the universe. We lived through a worldwide earthquake, fought demon locusts, topped the Antichrist's Most Wanted list and were international fugitives. I think we can handle this."

* * *

After his initial shock of finding out he was going to be a father, Judd couldn't contain his excitement. Later that evening when they were lying in bed, Judd rolled over towards Vicki and placed a hand on her still flat stomach.

"Hey baby." He whispered to it, "I'm going to be your daddy."

Vicki giggled, "Hon, the baby is probably the size of the point of a pin right now."

"I don't care." Judd said smiling, "It's still ours."

That night he fell asleep with his hand over his future child and dreamed about his son or daughter that God had blessed them with.

* * *

**Hooray for RyanxDarrion! Hooray for Baby Thompson! Hooray for life! As you would have noticed, I made the choice to not include Anne as Judd and Vicki's adopted daughter, as many do in their LBTK fanfics. She may pop up later in some way though, so hang in there!**

**Reviews always appreciated!**

**Peace xo**


	13. Chapter 12: Thanksgiving

**Oh hi there wonderful people. I am sooooooooooooo sorry that I have been awol. I really have no excuse seeing as I wasn't doing anything else. So I'm giving you a longer update today. Hooray! Now, I had this great idea to do Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years chapters on the actual holidays but I wrote half a Thanksgiving one in November and then disappeared so I decided to still post them but not in real time and pretty late. My bad. Also, sorry that this chapter is so JuddxVicki heavy. I promise to go further into the other relationships soon, including Conrad and Shelly's wedding, Ryan and Darrion's blossoming friendship and even Mark who I think might be developing feelings for someone who isn't married (Go Mark!)**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Vicki found she didn't mind being pregnant for the most part. She didn't get sick, but did get tired easier and sometimes had bouts of grouchiness. Judd was as happy as a cat who got the cream and did everything he could to keep his wife happy and content as their child grew inside her. It was difficult keeping the news from Nada and sometimes Vicki's pregnancy hormones got the better of her and the two girls had their tiffs, but for the most part, they got along well. Two weeks after Vicki had found out she was pregnant, Nada decided to find her own place and moved out of the Thompson home, which had relieved Vicki.

She was about seven weeks along when Thanksgiving rolled around. Members of the Tribulation and Young Trib Force had organised to hire out a community hall and have a reunion for Thanksgiving. All members of the groups and their families would join together, giving thanks to God for all they had been through and for the peace in which they now lived. The only people that knew about their pregnancy were their parents and Buck and Chloe, who they had confided in as a fellow young family. Judd and Vicki decided that the reunion would be a perfect opportunity to make the announcement and organised to do so with Buck and Chloe who had planned the whole affair.

"Are you ready for this?" Vicki smiled adjusting Judd's tie.

"I'm so ready." He beamed, "I can't wait to see everybody."

"Did you hear it's not just the American Trib Force that are coming?" Vicki said, "Rayford Steele organised to have all the overseas members fly in for it as well!"

"No way!" Judd exclaimed, "So Chang and his family, Sam, Naomi, Hannah?"

"Yep," Vicki said, "And Nina, and Dan and Mrs Ben-Judah."

"Wow."

"And there are a few more."

Judd looked surprised like he'd just had a revelation, "Nada's family."

Vicki nodded, "I wonder how they're going to react when they see her."

Judd laughed, "Nothing ever stopped Nada from doing what she was determined to do. Not even the wrath of her father."

* * *

Vicki couldn't wait to see everyone again. Since the Millennium began, the core groups that lived in Mount Prospect saw each other a lot, but there were a lot of other former Young Trib Force members that had ventured out and moved around to be with families. It had been a long time since Vicki had seen Pete, or Carl, or Tanya and Ty, or Natalie, or Charlie, Tom and Luke, or Mr. and Mrs Stahley and Mr. and Mrs Stein, or Colin and Becky. The list of people she'd grown to know and so many she'd lost overwhelmed her heart and she couldn't wait to see them all again.

As they pulled up to the hall that was all decorated with sparkling lights, Vicki took a deep breath. She was a hormonal bundle of excitement and nervousness and for the first time in her pregnancy, she felt slightly queasy.

"Are you ok honey?" Judd asked.

"Yeah." She replied, putting a hand over her stomach that was only a little tiny bump so far and hidden strategically by her flowy royal blue dress. "Just got a little case of butterflies."

"Me too." Judd smiled, "I think everyone will be really happy to see us though. And they'll be happy about the news."

Vicki believed him, but she was still on edge as they walked arm in arm through the front door and into the main hall. The hall was decorated lavishly with red drapes, lights and candles on tables that surrounded a dancefloor that was situated in front of a stage. Over the stage was a banner that read "Happy Thanksgiving: Welcome Tribulation Forces and Families".

Judd and Vicki were greeted with a sea of familiar faces all beaming at them and cheering greetings at them. Vicki was completely overwhelmed, but completely thrilled.

"Judd! Vicki!" a voice called over the crowd, and Chang Wong pushed through the crowd dragging Naomi Tiberius along behind him. They all shook hands and embraced.

"Man it's been too long!" Judd said, overjoyed to see his old friend again.

"I know! Which means you wouldn't have heard our latest news." Chang replied, a smile a mile wide across his face. Naomi flashed her left hand.

"We're getting married!" she beamed.

Vicki hugged her and they congratulated the couple.

"Vicki! Hey Vicki!"

Vicki spun around and saw Charlie waving and pushing through the crowd. A smile crossed her face and she dragged him into a huge hug. There was something different about Charlie now. He wasn't slow at all anymore. It was strange, but Vicki was happy for him, knowing how insecure he had been and was thrilled to see him.

As they walked through the crowd to find their seats they saw everyone they'd ever known during the tribulation and couldn't be happier to see them.

Dinner was a lavish feast of three courses and Rayford made a brilliant speech honouring several members of both the Tribulation Force and Young Tribulation Force who had done exceptional things during the Tribulation. Bruce was honoured for his leading the first few members onto the right path, Chloe was honoured for the work she did with the co-op , the members who had been martyred were all honoured by name and Judd and Vicki got special mentions for their heading up the Young Trib Force in the States and Israel as well as Vicki's work on the whole now famous, "Vicki B" scenario. Vicki couldn't help but smile at the memory of that day they cut into the Global Community's satellite and broadcast a message of hope to millions around the world. Vicki couldn't help but think how reckless and dangerous it was, but she had no idea how many she had helped come to Christ through it. Even now, people would come up to her in the streets and tell her they saw her and congratulated her on her work. In this new world she was practically a celebrity because of that whole show. Sometimes she'd get annoyed when people called her Vicki B.

"I'm Vicki T now." She'd correct with a smile.

Judd and Vicki's honourable mention was saved for last and after Rayford had toasted them he added, "In fact, this young couple have a few words that they would like to share with you all tonight."

Vicki's heart beat loudly in her ears and her trembling hand was only stilled by Judd clasping it in his own as they stood and made their way to the stage. They had a brief idea of what to say but all of a sudden Vicki was overcome with nerves. She inwardly chuckled at the fact that she felt more nervous about this moment than she did when she was speaking to the millions over the satellite. She remembered how she had been told when she and Judd first started dating (if you could call it that) that some people weren't for it, and thought it was a bad idea. _Maybe they'll think having a baby this young isn't a good idea. _She pushed the thought from her mind as she and Judd reached the podium on the stage and Judd addressed the group.

"Good evening everyone." Judd said, a smile spread across his face and an arm around his wife's waist. "It's so great to see you all again and we can't help but remember how so many of you impacted our lives over the past seven years so we felt it was only appropriate to share this with you on this evening of celebration and thankfulness."

Judd squeezed Vicki to his side in an unspoken way of asking if she was ready. She nodded and they both took a deep breath before proclaiming to their friends and families, "We're pregnant!"

They were nearly knocked over by the overwhelming wave of cheers and applause that was the response.

Vicki let herself laugh as all her nervousness was washed away with the clearly happy response from everyone. She looked in the crowd to see Shelly, Darrion and the other girls all clapping wildly. Lionel gave them a thumbs up and a wink. Ryan was pumping his fist into the air and hollering in celebration. There wasn't anywhere else that Vicki wanted to be in that moment, and no other people she would rather celebrate with.

After the excitement, music began to play and couples in the group took to the dance floor. Vicki was sitting at her table having a drink while Judd was still talking to a couple of the guys. She surveyed the dance floor. Buck and Chloe swayed in each others arms. Vicki smiled to herself. She couldn't have imagined how Buck must have felt after losing his wife, or how he must have felt being reunited with her. They looked happier than ever as they grinned at each other and stole kisses. She saw Conrad and Shelly dancing next. It was crazy circumstances that had brought them together. If Conrad had never been one of the GC's Morale Monitors he would never have met Shelly. Next she saw Ryan and Darrion and she giggled. She knew they had been a lot closer recently and she suspected something was blooming between them. It was a hostage situation that brought them together. It was strange. Seeing these blissfully happy couples, and even being one, she couldn't help but think about how none of these people would be together if the Rapture hadn't happened. The Rapture and the Tribulation. The two most chaotic and devastating things that even hit earth and it drove people into each others arms. Buck, a super-successful journalist never would have normally met a 20 year old college student like Chloe under any other circumstances. Someone as wealthy and privileged as Darrion never would have crossed paths with a normal suburban kid like Ryan. A wealthy, handsome guy like Judd would never have given a trailer trash girl a second glance at any other time. Vicki smiled. God knew what He was doing. He knew they all belonged together and made sure they ended up that way.

She was shaken from her trance by the hands on her shoulders.

"May I have this dance, oh love of my life, mother of my child?" Judd said in the corniest voice he could muster.

Vicki blurted out a laugh, "Really? That's your line?"

Judd shrugged, "Not really, I just wanted to say that once."

Vicki stood and followed him to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her in close. She draped her arms around his neck and gazes happily into his eyes.

"That went well I think." She said.

"It sure did. I think our baby is going to have something like 10 sets of godparents and like 30 uncles and aunties." Judd replied.

Vicki laughed.

"I'm so glad I met you." She said.

Judd chuckled, "I'm glad I met you too."

"But seriously," she said, staring at him sternly, "I don't regret anything. I don't regret the fact that I was left behind. Because if I hadn't been, I wouldn't be here with you right now, with this little one inside me."

Judd didn't reply with words. He simply leaned down and covered her trembling lips with his own and let her know all of his feelings through the kiss he gave her. A even though no words were uttered, she knew he felt the exact same way.

* * *

**So there you have it! I promise not to leave such a huge gap next time. Also, another apology, sorry if any random "u"'s end up in words like colour or favourite or anything. I am Australian and that's how we spell them, I try to write as American as possible but you never know when one might slip through.**

**Review if you like! And happy 2013!**

**x**


	14. Chapter 13: Save the Date

**Hey. Oh I've been gone for a while. Sorry :( but I'm back! I hit a bit of a wall and then wrote my little mini Judd/Vicki story called "I Will Wait, I Will Wait for You." Which you can check out if you are in that way inclined. But if you do read it you will notice it is SAD, so I had to update here so we can all be HAPPY. Go!**

* * *

It was a relaxed and quiet afternoon in the Thompson household. Winter was coming and Vicki was beginning to really show. She was huddled under a blanket, drinking a cup of tea on the sofa, doing some bible study on her laptop when an interesting looking email came through. She furrowed her brow and opened it.

_"Dear Vicki B. My name is Alex Davis. I'm 23 and live in Sydney, Australia. Me and my husband Joel lead a church in the city here that we started during the Tribulation as a training centre for young new Christians but since the beginning of the Millennium has flourished into a fairly large house of worship where thousands of people come to praise, worship, pray and learn more. I first became a Christian at the beginning of the Tribulation and was frequently learning from your posts on theunderground-online and I even got to see your broadcast during the gala and it inspired me so much. I know this is out of the blue, but Joel and I are organising a Marriage Seminar for our church in January and I really wanted to invite a really influential young married couple to come and speak to us. I feel like God told me to contact you, which is really weird because I don't even know if you're even married. I know this is a strange email but I hope you get back to me. Love and blessings, your sister in Christ, Alex."_

"Honey," Vicki called out to Judd, "Can you come here for a second?"

He popped his head in the room a few seconds later, "Everything ok?"

"Come have a look at this." She pointed at the computer and Judd read the email over her shoulder. When he'd finished he let out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Vicki asked.

"She wants a "really influential young married couple". Who would have thought seven years ago that people would consider us an influential married couple."

Vicki chuckled, "What do you think?"

"No harm in replying."

"She left a number to video call her on."

"Maybe email her back and see when is a good time to call."

Vicki shot back a quick email, _"Hi Alex. It's wonderful to hear from you. As it turns out, I'm actually Vicki T now, as I am in fact married. I'd love to video call you and your husband and have a talk about this. Let me know when there is a good time for you guys. Blessings, Vicki."_

After she hit send, she shut down the computer and yawned, rubbing her baby bump.

"How's bub today?" Judd asked, kneeling down beside her and planting a kiss on her stomach.

"He/she's good." She smiled, "He/she's making me very tired though."

"Well maybe you should take a nap. We have your sonagram this afternoon and they might be able to tell us it's sex so we don't have to keep calling it he/she."

Vicki laughed as she yawned again, "Ok. I'll go have a nana nap. Wake me at 2?"

"Sure." He said helping her to her feet and pecking her on the forehead, "Now go rest."

* * *

"So you've decided on a date for the wedding?" Pastor Bruce Barnes asked as he sat in his office with Shelly and Conrad.

"August 12th next year." Shelly said.

"That's a while away." Bruce commented.

"Well we want to make sure that we have everything we need to go into married life strong. We want to be stable and secure in every area." Conrad explained.

"That's good." Said Bruce. "I'm glad you've decided to be wise."

"I know you didn't really know me very long and you only met Conrad at the start of the Millennium, but it would really mean a lot to us if you would marry us." Shelly said.

"It would be an honour." Bruce smiled as he leant on his desk.

* * *

"That's it babe." Conrad smiled pulling Shelly to his side as they walked back to Shelly's house. They both had a spring in their step. "Date is set."

He smacked a kiss on the side of her head.

"I'm so excited!" Shelly beamed, "I can't believe we're doing it!"

"You're going to be Mrs Graham in nine months." Conrad smirked.

"Ew." Shelly pulled a face. "Mrs sounds old."

"Shelly Graham sounds good though." Conrad mused, "Perfect actually."

"You're perfect, actually." Shelly shot back.

"I wish my brother was here." Conrad said suddenly in a sombre tone. "Sorry. I don't want to be a bummer."

"No, it's okay." Shelly said, wrapping an arm around Conrad, "I wish my mom was here."

Conrad noticed out of the corner of his eye, a tear roll down Shelly's cheek.

"Do ever think about them?" Shelly asked. "About the one's who were lost."

Conrad sighed, "I do. Sometimes. I guess it's just human. Sometimes, I really miss Taylor and I get mad at God for what happened to him but then I remember that he had every opportunity to find God for himself. It was a blessing that he met Judd, it's a shame that he didn't believe, but he heard. And he chose."

"Sometimes I remember something that happened during the Tribulation like the locusts, or the horseman, and I get shivers." Shelly said. "Sometimes I feel like those seven years never actually happened and it was all a horrible nightmare. And sometimes I feel like this is all a dream and I'll wake up tomorrow huddled in a shelter or running from the GC."

Conrad didn't know what so say so he just stopped and hugged her to his chest.

"I wouldn't want it any other way though." Shelly said.

"What do you mean?"

"If I had to, I'd do it all again." Shelly smiled up at him, "It's how I met you after all."

Conrad laughed and kissed her frozen nose, "At least we'll have a good story to tell our kids when they ask how we met."

Shelly grinned, "Our kids?"

"Yeah." Conrad smiled, "I think we'll have super adorable kids."

Shelly laughed, "You think so?"

"Oh _super_ adorable." Conrad said with a look of mock arrogance.

Conrad pulled Shelly to his side and they happy couple continued down the road.

* * *

**So there you go. Hopefully more soon.**

**Peace xo**


	15. Chapter 14: Reminiscing

**I think you deserved a quick update seeing as I've been so slack. Here you go!**

* * *

"Vick." Judd whispered over his wife as he gently roused her from her sleep. "It's time to get up. Appointment's soon."

Vicki groaned as she rolled over, "Do I have to go?" she pouted.

Judd laughed, "Yep. And don't think you're gonna win me over with that cutesy face."

Vicki rolled her eyes and smiled as she flung her legs over the side if the bed and sat up. She was so tired. This baby was really wearing her out already. Seeing herself in the mirror was strange. She still wasn't used to seeing herself so… round. She slipped on some clothes and head out the door.

"I'm nervous." Vicki said as they settled in the car.

"It's okay." Judd said, "That's understandable. But I'm going to be right there, by your side, the whole time."

Vicki smiled.

The drive to the doctors seemed long, and by the time they arrived, Vicki's heart was racing. She squeezed Judd's hand as they walked into the office.

The gel was cold on her stomach and she giggled when it went on.

"How have you been feeling Mrs Thompson?" Doctor Carson asked.

"Fine." She said, "Tired."

"Any nausea?"

"No. I've been okay so far."

"That's good." The Doctor smiled, "It seems that pregnancy and childbirth has been a little easier on women since the Millennium started."

"Really?" Judd asked, surprised.

"Oh yes." Doctor Carson replied, "Not many women claim nausea anymore. And there seems to be significantly milder birth pains."

"That's something to be thankful for." Vicki smiled.

"I have something else here that you'll be thankful for." The Doctor replied, checking the ultrasound on the screen.

"What is it?" Vicki asked, squeezing Judd's hand.

"Looks like you two have not one, but two little bundles of joy on the way."

"What?" Judd said as Vicki's jaw dropped.

"Yep." Doctor Carson said pointing at the screen, "See. Here are the two heartbeats. Congratulations."

Vicki grinned at Judd, "Twins?"

"Twins." Judd smiled.

"Did you want to know the sex?"

Vicki and Judd looked at each other and smiled, "Do we?" Judd asked.

"Yeah." Vicki said.

"From the looks of things," the Doctor said, "We have one of each."

A flood of emotion washed over Vicki and she began to cry quietly. Judd wrapped an arm around her and kissed her head.

"I'm so happy." She half sobbed, half laughed.

"This is so amazing, Vick." Judd said. "We are so blessed."

"We need to tell our families." Vicki said.

"Marc and Marcie are gonna flip out." Judd laughed.

* * *

On their way home, Judd and Vicki stopped by at the Thompson and Byrne houses to tell their families the good news and show them pictures of the ultrasound. Everyone was ecstatic. They had already planned with Lionel and Ryan to have dinner at their place that night, and figured that it was only right that the second group of people they told after their families were their closest friends. The four original Young Trib Force members had decided to have dinner together once a fortnight for old times sake. When they got home, Judd offered to get the dinner ready so Vicki could grab a little more rest.

She kissed him and smiled, "You're such a good husband."

* * *

Even after all this time, seeing Lionel and Ryan made Judd's heart happy. They had so many memories together. They'd been through so much together and Judd was thrilled that they could finally hang out as friends without the apocalypse hovering over their heads.

"Hey man." Lionel said, slapping high-fives with Judd.

"How you guys been?" Judd asked.

"Pretty good." Ryan replied.

"Yeah, pretty good," Lionel said, socking Ryan on the shoulder, "This guys doing pretty good since he and Darrion started dating."

"Shut up man." Ryan said. "We're not dating. We're just hanging out."

"Whatever." Lionel replied, "They're pretty much dating."

"Where's Vick?" asked Ryan, changing the subject.

"She's in our room." Judd replied, "She's pretty wiped most of the time but she should be out soon."

"I'm here." Vicki replied, as if on cue. She came out of the bedroom in sweatpants and one of Judd's t-shirts which she found were the most comfortable things to wear now she had expanded. "Sorry I didn't dress up for you."

"How you doing, Vick?" Lionel asked.

Vicki yawned, "I'm good. But I'm exhausted like 90% of the time. And hungry 100% of the time." She said as she joined them at the dining table. "What did you cook babe?"

"Mexican." Judd replied.

"Yes!" Vicki punched the air, "_That's_ why I married you!"

"So when are you due again?" Ryan asked.

"June 24th." Vicki said.

"I can't wait to meet the kid that you two managed to make." Lionel said, "I have a feeling the poor thing is gonna be real stubborn."

"Hey!" Judd and Vicki said in unison before bursting out in laughter because they knew he was right.

"Actually, we have a bit of news we wanted to share on that front." Vicki said, grabbing the sonogram picture out of her pocket. "We got a sonogram today and got the first picture of our babies."

She popped the picture on the table and Lionel and Ryan grabbed it to have a look.

"Wait," said Lionel, finally catching on, "Did you just say 'babies'?"

Vicki grinned and nodded frantically.

"Twins?!" Ryan exclaimed. "No way!"

"Yes way." Judd smiled, "A boy and a girl."

"Okay now I'm imagining two stubborn and fearless little kids with red hair running around the place fighting over leadership." Lionel laughed.

Vicki shot him a look.

"We also got an interesting email today from a couple that pastor a church in Australia." Judd piped in.

"Australia?" Ryan said, "Wow."

"Yeah," Vicki said, "They want us to come and speak at their churches marriage seminar."

Lionel burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Judd asked.

"Well, I just think of some of the times before you two became and couple of the year and still can't believe you made it."

"Hey." Vicki said, "We weren't that bad."

"Are you kidding?" Lionel said with a smirk, "Remember that time in that cave when we were hiding from the GC and this guy promised to stay awake while you slept and keep the snakes away from you and then fell asleep and you woke up with a snake on top of you?"

Ryan cracked up laughing.

"Man I wish I'd seen that!"

"And you were yelling at him."

"Uh, I think I was justified in yelling at him." Vicki smiled.

"Oh and that time I finally got you in the same room and tried to get you to work stuff out but Vicki, you were like 'what happens between us is none of your business' and I was like 'yeah it is'-"

"That's because," Judd interrupted, "I'm pretty sure you wanted this to happen more than we did."

"You kidding?" Lionel said, "Everyone knew you'd get together eventually."

"I know I did." Ryan said.

"Really?" Vicki asked.

"Sure." Lionel said, "Even back in the early days at Judd's house and you two would practically act like me and Ryan's mom and dad. I knew it would happen eventually."

"I can't believe it took five years." Ryan said.

"Probably because this guy was so stubborn." Lionel commented.

"Hey, can we quit analysing our relationship and eat some food please?" Vicki laughed.

"Good idea." Judd said standing up to get the food from the kitchen.

"But in all seriousness guys," Lionel said, "I'm so happy for you two. I'm so happy that you fought through your problems and made it work, I'm so happy you get married, and I'm so happy that you've been blessed with these little ones. You really are perfect for one another and God totally had it all worked out for you. I'm so proud of you." Lionel raised his glass of coke.

"Aww, Lionel," Vicki said, "Thank you."

"What I want to hear about right now is," Judd said, returning with the food, "What's going on with Ryan and Darrion."

Judd, Vicki and Lionel snickered. Ryan blushed.

"It's nothing really." Ryan said, shifting uncomfortably.

"It's not nothing." Lionel said, "He's constantly texting her and they hang out like every night."

"Sounds like it's more than nothing, Ryan." Vicki smiled.

"Fine." Ryan surrendered, "It's awesome."

They all laughed.

"We've been hanging out for a while now. I think we'll probably start officially dating soon, but for now we're just strengthening our friendship seeing as we haven't seen each other for a while."

"Well I'm happy for you two." Vicki said.

"This is cool." Judd said.

"What is?" asked Ryan.

"The four of us, hanging out, in a normal setting, without worrying about danger." Judd replied.

"I agree." Vicki said, "It's been a long time since we all hung out together without anyone else."

"I like it." Lionel said.

"To the former Young Trib Force." Vicki toasted with her water.

"Cheers to that!" Judd replied.

* * *

"Do you think what Lionel said was true?" Vicki asked as she puffed her pillow as they got ready for bed.

"About what?" Judd asked climbing into bed.

"Do you think we really acted like his and Ryan's mom and dad." She smiled.

Judd laughed, "I don't know. Maybe. But I was a bit of a jerk back then so it's possible. I'm still sorry about the whole snake thing."

Vicki giggled, "I think you probably made up for it since then."

"I can't believe how long ago that seems."

"We've come a long way." Vicki said patting her belly.

"We have indeed." Judd smiled, "Twins. Wow."

"I know right." Vicki laughed climbing into bed, "No wonder I've been so exhausted.

"Two babies around the house." Judd said rolling on his side and placing a hand on her stomach, "This is gonna be crazy."

"I think we can handle it." Vicki said, "Apparently we've been practicing our mom and dad duties since the rapture."

Judd laughed, "It's so great seeing Lionel and Ryan bickering again."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that." Vicki smirked.

"We certainly had plenty of adventures with them." Judd mused.

"I think our biggest adventure is yet to come." Vicki laughed, "We're gonna be parents in like six months."

"This is crazy."

"It's gonna be awesome."

Judd planted two kisses on her belly and then one on her lips.

"Yeah it is."

* * *

**Boom.**

**Peace xo**


	16. Chapter 15: The Davis Family

**Another JuddxVicki heavy chapter! Sorry! I promise more of others soon! At least I have some new OC's!**

* * *

"Babe!" Vicki called from her position on the couch, she was under the laptop again. It was getting harder and harder to fit the computer of her lap, but for now she was still able to comfortably, "Are you busy?"

Judd bounded in from the kitchen, "Yeah, what's up?"

"I just heard back from that girl in Australia and she said she available to chat now if we are." Vicki explained.

"Sure." Judd shrugged, "Hook it up."

Vicki got up off the couch and set the laptop up on the kitten table. The two sat in front of it, and she logged into Skype. Within a few moments, an incoming call from Alex Davis was flashing on the screen.

When Vicki answered they saw a couple of beaming young adults that could have been supermodels. Alex had a beautiful face with striking features, deep blue eyes and long brunette hair that fell in waves down her shoulders. Joel was an athletic blonde young man with brown eyes, shaggy hair and a bit of light stubble.

"Hi!" Alex exclaimed, "It's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Alex. This is my husband, Joel."

The woman had an accent that was somewhere between Australian and English.

"Hi," Vicki smiled, "It's great to hear from you. This is my husband, Judd."

"Hi."

"Nice to meet you Judd." Said Joel.

"And these are our twins." Judd said patting Vicki's stomach.

"Oh congratulations!" Alex beamed, "This is- come here sweetie," a gorgeous little boy who would be around Kenny Williams age with blonde hair and blue eyes and a gorgeous little girl a little younger with brown hair appeared in front of the screen smiling and waving, "These are our little ones, Jesse and Penny."

"Hi Jesse, hi Penny." Vicki smiled, waving at the little ones as they scurried off.

"So," Alex started, "I know it's pretty random of us messaging you."

"We're honoured." Vicki said.

"I remember seeing your broadcast at the gala back during the tribulation and thought you were just a hero." Alex said.

Vicki blushed, "It was terrifying."

"We'd love to hear your story." Judd said.

"It's a heck of a story." Joel smiled. The two launched into the tale and Vicki and Judd sat riveted.

Alex had come to Australia from London three years before the rapture to attend a really prestigious college of theology in Sydney that was linked to an enourmous church. She was on fire for God and completely passionate about learning theology and becoming a pastor back at her home in London. She started her degree and by the time she entered her third year, she was beginning to lose it. She had seen a lot of things happen in the church that she thought were hypocritical and began to feel as though God had abandoned her. It was around that time that she met Joel. He was a drummer in the church worship team and Alex had just started worship leading. But Joel had started falling away from God. He didn't tell anyone though because he loved drumming in the band and didn't want to be kicked out. The two had started hanging out and that had quickly turned into hooking up at inappropriate times.

"It was during a worship team practice that the rapture happened." Alex said, dropping her head as if reliving it, "We were mid song when the entire team, save us two disappeared out of their clothes and guitars and microphones all hit the floor."

It didn't take too long for them to figure out what happened. They eventually learnt that the entire church staff and college faculty all disappeared. Not a single pastor or lectured remained. And to top it all off, there were only a handful of students remaining. They also learnt that both their families had disappeared. Most of the remaining students were from overseas and they all wanted to go home to their families. Alex was the only student from overseas who stayed there.

"It took us about five minutes to decided that we had missed the boat and we both became Christians. We then decided that it would be up to us to rebuilt what was left of this church. It had once been huge, but more than 95% of weekly attendees had disappeared and all the ones that remained where youth and young adults." Explained Joel, "So we stayed here and began teaching the people that were left what had happened. Alex had almost finished her degree and I had completed it the year before so we both knew some stuff."

They lead the church for as long as they could and it grew and grew until the earthquake destroyed their building and they GC stronghold really took over and they had to hide or run or both. They formed groups of ten and equipped themselves with enough knowledge to go and take the message around the country. They managed to grow their groups and by the time the Glorious Appearing happened each group of ten had grown to at least 50.

"We got married around the second year of the tribulation and had Jesse the year after." Alex said, beginning to tear up. "It was rough. We had to keep running for our lives. The GC here saw us as their biggest enemies because of all we had done, you'd know all about that. But doing that and being pregnant was awful. It was a rough pregnancy and I was sick a lot but I finally had him and miraculously, we met some Christians who helped deliver him. Everything was looking upwards…" Tears began forming in Alex's eyes.

Joel embraced her and rubbed her back, "When Jesse was two he was shot by a stray GC bullet and died instantly." He explained.

Vicki covered her mouth with her hand and gasped, tears welling, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Joel smiled, "We got him back. We fought for him the whole time and we made it to the Glorious Appearing. We got to see Jesus and our little boy again."

"What about Penny?" Judd asked.

"Penny was born to one of the unbelievers in our group." Alex explained, "Her mother died during the tribulation when Penny was six months old, before accepting Christ and no one knew who her father was. We took her in as our own."

"So you raised two children while running from the GC?" Vicki asked. "That blows everything we did right out of the water."

Alex smiled, "You don't even know how much you inspired us though. When things were rough, we got to see how you would put your life on the line for others and it inspired us to keep moving forwards."

"Well that's our story." Joel said, "Basically once the Millenium began, all the people from our original groups, plus the additions all came back to us and asked if we would lead them as Pastors. Jesus built us a place of worship and that's where we gather."

"Tell us your story." Alex said.

Judd and Vicki did. They told everything. From losing their families and meeting at the church, to becoming fugitives, to the fights, to their separation, to busting people out of GC prisons, to escaping near misses themselves, right up to their reunion, marriage, time in Petra and final battles in Jerusalem. Alex and Joel smiled the whole time, just excited to hear the tale.

"Wow." Joel said, "You guys really didn't stop did you?"

Judd laughed, "No we didn't."

"So what about this seminar?" Vicki said.

"Well," Alex started, "A large majority of our congregation are people our age and younger and a lot have questions about... you know… relationships and dating, but there are also a lot of young married couples. We wanted to have a seminar with guest couples who have worked hard to get to where they are and still work hard every day to impart some wisdom in to the young people."

"Everything would be covered," Joel said, "We'll fly you to and from and we have plenty of room for you to stay with us."

Judd and Vicki looked at each other, silently discussing, before turning back to the screen.

"It's in January right?" Judd asked.

"Right." Said Alex.

"We're in." Vicki announced.

Alex and Joel almost leapt off their seats with joy.

"Oh thank you sooooo much!" Alex exclaimed, "Our church is going to love seeing and hearing from you guys!"

"We really appreciate it guys." Joel said.

"It's an honour, really." Vicki said.

The two couples chatted a little more about practicalities before signing off and promising to keep each other posted.

"Wow." Vicki said brushing a tear away, "Their story is incredible."

"Yeah." Judd replied hugging her sideways.

"We're going to Australia!" Vicki exclaimed.

"I know!"

They both laughed excited for their next adventure.

* * *

**Aww. I don't own LBTK or the associated characters however I DO OWN Alex, Joel, Jesse and Penny. Byeee.**

**Peace xo**


	17. Chapter 16: The First Date

**Finally! A cutesy, fluffy RyanxDarrion chapter for you! I loved writing this one! I love those two little love birds!**

* * *

Ryan felt totally lame as he walked to the house where Darrion lived with the bunch of roses he'd bought. It was a cold night and he was watching puffs of his breath form little clouds in front of him as he walked. He was new to this whole dating thing. But he figured girls like roses, especially girls like Darrion. He still felt nervous even though they'd been hanging out for a while now, but tonight was the night they decided to go on their first real, official date. Ryan had told Lionel and all he did was laugh before congratulating him. Mark and John thought it was cute. Conrad was the only one that was relatively encouraging,

"Just be you, man." He'd said. "You guys are friends and it's obvious she likes you."

By the time Ryan turned up at the house, he had gone over his spiel in his head a million times.

Shelly answered the door and immediately giggled. Whilst Ryan wasn't a kid anymore, they all saw him as the baby of the group.

"Hi Shelly. Yeah I'm hilarious." He said, "Can you tell Darrion I'm here?"

"Sure Ryan." Shelly giggled, running off to find her.

Darrion looked stunning. She was wearing a long sleeved, short red dress with thick black tights and black boots. She had a red overcoat on and her long dark hair curled loosely and falling down her back. Ryan was immediately smitten all over again and didn't say anything. He just stood flabbergasted.

Darrion laughed, "You look nice Ryan."

"Uh.. you do too." He blurted out, "You look lovely."

_Lovely. When have I ever used the word lovely?_ He thought, kicking himself.

Darrion laughed again, "Thank you."

* * *

Darrion's heart was a flutter and she thought Ryan looked absolutely adorable. Darrion had liked guys before the whole Tribulation. She'd had the odd boyfriend here and there but none of them compared to Ryan Daley. He had saved her life and risked his own. He was completely selfless, and had a beautiful heart. Also, how he was grown up, he was very good looking. No one had ever made her feel as silly as he did. She felt like a school girl with a big stupid crush. She'd smile like an idiot every time she saw his name appear on her phone screen when he'd call her. She felt her heart go a little crazy whenever he'd turn up at her doorstep. And he treated her like a princess. It was almost as if he couldn't believe that a girl like her would like him. Her parents approved 100%. They'd loved Ryan from the moment they met him. Obviously, he saved their daughter and led them to Christ, and when Darrion told them about her and Ryan they were completely ecstatic.

Ryan had made them reservations at a cute little Italian restaurant in nice part of town. They got their table and received their menus.

"You still vegetarian?" Ryan asked with a smirk.

Darrion smiled, "When you're on the run from the GC, you eat what you can. Besides, I discovered how awesome meat tastes."

"Wow, you've changed." Ryan joked.

"More than you know." She said.

"I remember when I met you, you were this… difficult rich girl with an attitude." Ryan pondered.

"Difficult?" Darrion laughed, "I was obnoxious! I don't know how you put up with me."

"It was a trial." Ryan said shaking his head.

Darrion laughed.

"I did change a lot in the last five or so years. I mean, how could you not change? It was crazy."

"Well I changed too." Ryan said with a laugh, "I did die."

Darrion looked down, almost upset, "I do wish you wouldn't make jokes about that. That was one of the most difficult days of my life."

She looked up with glassy eyes, remembering the tragic day when Vicki came from the hospital to tell her and Shelly that Ryan had passed away.

Ryan grabbed her hand over the table.

"Hey, I'm sorry." He said gently.

"It's ok. It was just… so hard without you around." She said.

"I'm so proud of you though." Ryan smiled stoking her cheek.

Darrion blushed, "What for?"

"For being so strong, so brave." He said, "You fought and you made it, right to the end. I couldn't have been happier."

Darrion smiled, "Thank you."

The two ordered their meals and as they waited for them to arrive they reminisced about the past and learnt more and more about each other.

"Tell me something that pretty much nobody knows about you." Ryan said.

Darrion laughed, "Something pretty much nobody knows about me. You're really asking me to trust you with this one."

"Come one. You tell me one and I'll tell you one." Ryan pushed.

"Fine." Darrion said throwing her hands up, "Pretty much nobody knows… that I… sing."

"You can sing?" Ryan repeated, "Why have I never heard you sing!?"

Darrion blushed, "Because I don't sing in front of people. I get too freaked out."

"Well now I know, I need to hear you sing." Ryan said.

"No way." Darrion laughed! "I can't!"

"Later on, I'm going to hear you sing." Ryan said with a smirk.

"Come on then, tell me something!" Darrion said lightly kicking him under the table.

"Fine. But you can't laugh." Ryan said.

"I can't promise anything." Darrion said laughing already.

"My middle name is Cermack."

Darrion bit her lip trying to stifle a laugh.

"You want to laugh!" Ryan exclaimed.

"I'm sorry!" she cried throwing her head in her hands and giggling.

"It's okay, I laugh at it too." Ryan said. "Tell me another one."

Darrion pursed her lips in thought, "Hmmm. When I was seven I went on a hunger strike because my parents wouldn't buy me a pony."

Ryan burst out laughing, "That is literally text-book rich girl right there!"

"The best bit was, they didn't want to buy me a pony because I already had a horse." Darrion said.

Ryan shook his head, "You went on a hunger strike when you were seven? Over a pony?"

Darrion nodded with a smile.

"How long did it last?"

"Until lunchtime."

The two laughed.

"Your turn." Darrion said.

"Um. When I was 10 I ran away from home because my parents wouldn't buy me a PlayStation."

Darrion laughed, "And you laugh at _me_!"

"It's an only child thing!" Ryan shrugged.

"I know."

"Ok, your go again." Ryan said.

Darrion sighed, "Ok. When I met you, even though I gave you a hard time, I thought you were really cute."

Ryan shrugged, "Understandable."

"Hey!" Darrion laughed.

"Wait, when you met me? Well where do you stand on that now?"

Darrion blushed for what seemed like the twentieth time, "I still think you're pretty cute."

"Pretty cute?" Ryan raised an eyebrow, "So you downgraded me from really cute to pretty cute?"

Darrion smiled, "Well I met you when we were fourteen. You were cute then, now you're grown up…"

"Well if it means anything, when I met you I thought you were a little crazy, but still really pretty." Ryan said.

Darrion smiled, "And now?"

"Now I think you're beautiful."

Darrion's heart did a somersault in her chest as the waiter came and placed their food on the table. As they ate, they continued their little game and learnt more and more random facts about one another. They laughed and remembered some sadder times. By the time it was time for the check, Darrion felt like she knew more about Ryan than anyone. She had had such an amazing time on this date. She thought as far as first dates go, this one would have had to have been the best one that was ever had.

* * *

Ryan payed, and they left the restaurant.

"Do you wanna go home? Or do you wanna do something else?" Ryan asked.

Darrion didn't want the night to end, but she also wanted to be wise about their dates and be home at a decent hour.

"How about we take a little walk and then head home?" Darrion suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Ryan replied.

They found a nearby park and strolled through the gardens under the moonlight. One of the best things about living in the Millennium was the safety. You could walk around at night and not be fearful, but it didn't stop the cold. It was winter after all, and they walked with their hands pushed into their coat pockets. Snow was just beginning to fall and the scene was one of beauty and, Darrion thought, very romantic. She wanted Ryan to hold her hand, but didn't want to just straight out ask him to, even though she was sure he'd be happy to oblige, so instead she walked very close and slipped her hand in his coat pocket, finding his hand and lacng her fingers through his. He squeezed her hand back and took his hand out of his pocket giving her a smile.

* * *

Ryan was elated. He couldn't believe how blessed he was to have a girl as beautiful as Darrion want to be with him. He loved the way the snowflakes fell on her dark hair, he loved the way the moonlight made her eyes look so very warm. How he would have loved to have kissed her right then. But he didn't want to. Not yet. It was too soon and he didn't want to rush anything or make her feel like things were moving too fast, so he just smiled and enjoyed the scenery that was made even more perfect by her being in it, as they strolled through the park hand in hand talking about everything from their childhoods to where they wanted to be in the future.

"Now Darrion Stahley," Ryan said in mock seriousness, "You said something back in the restaurant that I really want to discuss further."

"Oh did I?" she replied.

"Yes." He said, "You mentioned that you could sing."

"Oh no." she said recoiling away.

"Please?" Ryan pleaded, "Just a couple of bars of something."

"Ryan, I-"

"There isn't anyone in sight!"

"But-"

"Don't be afraid Darrion!" he said stopping and taking her by the shoulders, "You survived the Tribulation, you can do anything. And I certainly think you can sing for me."

Darrion looked away and paused a minute, "Fine!" she surrendered, throwing her arms in the air.

"Yes!" Ryan cheered. He sat on a nearby wall and applauded.

Darrion rolled her eyes and then shyly studied the pavement as she so very quietly began to sing in a beautiful, sweet voice,

"_When peace like a river,_

_Attendeth my way,_

_When sorrows like sea billows roll,_

_Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,_

_It is well, it is well with my soul._

_It is well, with my soul._

_It is well, it is well with my soul."_

Ryan jumped to his feet and applauded, "Wow!"

Darrion tried to hide her smiling face.

"Your voice is amazing!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" he beamed, "More people need to hear you sing!"

"No, please." She said, "Can it just be our secret for now?"

Ryan sighed, "Fine, for now."

* * *

By the time Ryan dropped Darrion home, she was completely overwhelmed by her feelings. She'd gone from liking him to being completely besotted by him in one night. She'd never realised how amazing he was and when she flung herself in her bed finally after battling a barrage of questions from Shelly and the others and sighed and smiled at just how smitten she was. Deep down she knew, this was real and for the first time in years, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

**Hope you liked! Review if you like!**

**Peace xo**


	18. Chapter 17: Christmas

**So I firstly didn't intend on making this whole story just a massive romance-fest, but I'm a sappy girl and I love love and I just want everyone to be in love OK STOP JUDGING ME. Jokes. More love. **

* * *

The Christmas season was a special one for the Thompson and Byrne families. It would be the first time that both families would all come together just themselves for a family holiday. Judd and Vicki were greeted by hugs and kisses from Judd Snr and Sarah when they arrived at the Thompson's house on Christmas Eve. The Thompson's had built a house that was identical to the one they had lived in before the rapture and it was strange for Judd and Vicki to see it so full of life and joy.

"Merry Christmas kids!" Sarah exclaimed planting a huge kiss on Judd's cheek.

Vicki smiled. She liked being referred to as a kid. The irony of hating it when she actually was a kid but now, loving it as an adult was not lost on her.

"Merry Christmas, mom." Judd said, blushing and rubbing his mothers lipstick off his cheek.

"How are you going Vicki, my dear?" Sarah asked, putting an arm around her daughter-in-law and patting her belly.

"I'm doing okay." She said, "They're getting heavier!"

"You don't have to tell me about carrying twins darling!" Sarah laughed.

Just on cue, Marc and Marcie ran around the corner.

"Hey Judd!" Marc exclaimed.

"Hey man! How you doing?" Judd smiled, giving his little brother a high-five.

Marcie gave Vicki a hug. She loved Vicki. Growing up with two brothers, she'd always wanted a sister and thought Vicki was wonderful.

It wasn't long before Tom and Dawn Byrne arrived with Jeanni in tow and they all hugged and greeted each other.

Dawn hugged Vicki, "How are my grandbabies?"

"Making me super tired already, mom." Vicki laughed.

"I'm proud of you sweetie." She replied, "I'm sure they'll be gorgeous."

"There's someone else, Vick that was able to drag himself here." Tom said with a grin.

"Hey Vick." Eddie smiled as he stepped in the house.

"Eddie!" Vicki almost screamed as she awkwardly half-ran/half-waddled to hug her big brother, "Judd, this is my brother!"

Eddie jokingly sized Judd up, "So you're the guy who married my little sister?"

"That's me." Judd said.

"Nice to finally meet you man!" Eddie said, slapping Judd on the back and shaking his hand.

It was an amazing reunion. Vicki watched as the two families bonded. It was strange to think how different these two families had been once before. The Thompson's had been wealthy and upper-class. The Byrne's had lived in a trailer and struggled to get by. But there was one important thing that they had in common and that was the love of Christ. She smiled as she watched Eddie and Judd talk each others ears off. She laughed as Jeanni joined Marc and Marcie in playing video games in the living room. She watched her parents and Judd's parents sharing stories and interests.

_So this is what normality feels like. _She thought as she watched the surreal scene take place. Normality. It was crazy how strange normality felt after seven years of chaos. But here she was at a family Christmas with her family and her husband's family all sharing in the love and friendship. It was strange. Normal, wonderful… and strange.

* * *

Christmastime was difficult for Ryan. It was another reminder that his parents weren't there. He was very grateful when Darrion invited him to the Stahley's for Christmas.

"Of course I'd invite you, Ryan!" She said when he expressed his gratitude, "I don't want you to be alone for Christmas!"

It was nice seeing the Stahley's again. Ryan hadn't spent much time with Maxwell as he had died only moments after meeting him, but he'd known Louise longer and was very happy to see her. She was equally as excited.

"I'm so happy to see you again Ryan!" she exclaimed squeezing him in a hug when they arrived at the Stahley's, "And I'm happy that you two are together."

"It's good to properly meet you, Ryan." Maxwell said, "I never did really get to thank you for saving my daughter."

"For saving all of us." Louise added.

"It was the least I could do." Ryan said.

The Stahley's did everything possible to make Ryan feel at home, but there was a twinge of sadness in him not having his family around, as there always had been every Christmas after the rapture, but being with Darrion was uplifting. She'd squeeze his hand under the table when he began to look a bit down and make sure to include him in every conversation. He couldn't help but think how blessed he was. It had been a few weeks since there first date and things were going amazingly. He knew this was the real deal, and was certain that she was the one for him. He loved her parents too. They were amazing people and so welcoming. They made a difficult time relatively easy for him and he was grateful.

* * *

Conrad and Shelly didn't have any family around anymore and found Christmastime difficult, but Bruce invited them along with any other young people that were part of the group that didn't have families to his house for Christmas. Everyone was accounted for and everyone felt at home. It was the first Christmas of the Millennium and there was something even more beautiful about celebrating the birth of Christ now that He lived amongst them.

Everyone attended a Christmas service at the newly rebuilt New Hope Village Church and all worshipped before heading back to their families or friends for Christmas dinner.

* * *

Christmas night, the Thompson's and Byrne's all gathered in the Thompson's living room around the fire and read some scriptures and prayed for each other while sipping hot cocoa while Christmas songs played quietly on the stereo. When everyone had gone to bed, Judd and Vicki stayed downstairs by the fire a bit longer. He sat on the couch and she sat almost on his lap with her back to his chest, his arms around her.

"This is so weird." She said.

"What's weird?" he asked.

"Being in this house." She said, "It's pretty much the same house we lived in when we first met."

"I know." Judd replied, "It creeped me out at first, but it's kind of nice. It's almost as if the last seven years never happened."

Judd poked her lightly, "Hey, remember that first Christmas at my house when Ryan got you that necklace and you thought it was from me?"

Vicki dropped her head and groaned, "Oh, that was so embarrassing."

"It was funny."

"Shut up." She laughed.

"You so had a crush on me then." He smiled.

"I'm not even going to respond to that." She giggled.

"See! You can't deny it." He laughed.

"You're right. I can't. It's true."

"Ha!" he laughed, "I knew it."

"As if you didn't crush on me!" she accused.

"You're right." He shook his head, "Let's just say we had a huge crush on each other and call it quits."

"Lets." She smiled. "I love how well our families get on. Everything was so perfect."

"It really was." Judd sighed, "This is definitely the best Christmas Eve."

"Shame there's no mistletoe here though." Vicki said looking around.

"Ah, who needs it?" Judd shrugged as he leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

Darrion stood staring out the window of the living room into the snow covered streets that were glowing by street lights in the otherwise darkness of night. She was so happy to be with her parents again. She'd really taken them for granted when they were alive and it hurt so much to lose them. Same with Ryan. It was then she realized that she was the only one in the house that hadn't died and been brought back to life. She shivered at the thought.

Suddenly, she saw Ryan come up behind her in the reflection in the window.

"Hey." She said as he put his arms around her and rested his chin atop her head.

"Hey." He replied, "I can't thank you enough for welcoming me into your family for Christmas."

"It was the very least I could do, Ryan." She replied. "Like I said, I didn't want you to be alone."

"Sometimes, even though everything is wonderful here, and Jesus is here, I feel alone when I see my friends with their families and realize mine is gone." He mused quietly.

Darrion turned to face him, still wrapped in his arms, "I'm so sorry Ryan. But you don't ever have to feel alone, okay? You're never alone, I'm going to make sure you're never alone again, okay?"

Ryan looked away nervously, "Would it be… weird… if I said… I love you?"

Darrion cupped his cheek with her hand and guided his face back to look her in the eye.

"No," she said with a smile, "That wouldn't be weird at all."

She stood on her toes and gently touched her nose to his to gauge his reaction. He reacted by closing the small gap between their lips and kissing her sweetly and softly.

"I do then." He said as he drew away. "I do love you, Darrion."

She smiled, "I love you too, Ryan."

* * *

**:D hope you like the love.**

**Peace xo**


	19. Chapter 18: Going to Australia

**I'm back! Sorry I've been so slack! I've been so busy working and stuff and I've been writers blocked for ages. This is only a shorty though because I just wanted to get this scene out of the way. Hope you enjoy this little update and I promise to get back on this now! Thanks for sticking around!**

* * *

"Hurry up, Vick! They just called us!" Judd called as he lugged his bag over his shoulder.

Vicki furrowed her brow and shouted, "I'm hurrying! But I am running for three!"

"Sorry." Judd said, slowing his pace to keep beside her.  
The flight from Chicago to Sydney was now boarding and Judd was antsy. He loved travelling and it had been a while since he had and his feet were itching for adventure. Vicki was excited, but she didn't appreciate him hurrying her along. They'd been in correspondence with the Australian couple, Alex and Joel and were heading to speak at their conference. They were told that it would be mostly in interview format and had been given some possible questions to come up with some answers.

Judd had been to Australia once before on travels with Bruce, but it was the first time Vicki had been that far from home. She was excited about going to Australia, but nervous about speaking at the conference.

"There's nothing to be nervous about." Judd had said with a smile, "No one wants you dead at this public appearance."

Vicki had smiled shyly, "I know, but it's such a huge crowd."

"We're in it together, remember?" he'd said, pecking her on the cheek.

* * *

The flight was a long one. Vicki felt like it was never going to end. She felt slightly nauseous at times during the flight, but was relatively okay. They went over their notes and their answers to the questions during the flight and both tried to get some sleep. By the time they landed, Vicki was itching to get back into the earth.

* * *

Sydney, like many other capital cities, had been rebuilt to its former glory after being plundered and destroyed during the tribulation. The view of the harbor and the city lights took Vicki's breath away as they touched down. Judd glanced at Vicki with a smile out the corner of his eye as he noticed her face was one of awe and amazement when she looked out the plane window. They bustled through the terminal until they saw the grinning couple with the sign that read "Welcome to Sydney, Judd and Vicki!".

The woman was Alex. She was even more stunning in real life than she was over the web chat. She was holding the hand of a small blonde boy that Vicki recognised to be her son, Jesse. Next to her was Joel, who was holding their adopted daughter Penny on his hip.

"Hi!" Alex called as she frantically waved at them. Jesse jumped up and down and waved too.

Judd and Vicki set their luggage at their feet and shook hands with the couple.

"It's so nice to meet you in person at last." Vicki smiled.

"Likewise," Alex replied with her British accent, "I can't believe I'm meeting you. You're practically a celebrity."

Vicki blushed, "Hardly."

"Come on," Joel laughed, "You'd be hard pressed to find one person who hasn't heard of the famous Vicki B."

"We've been advertising this conference for weeks and our congregation can't wait to hear from you. You should hear the cheers when the ad comes on." Alex said.

Judd shook his head and laughed, "I hope they want to hear what I have to say as well."

Alex and Joel laughed.

"Who am I kidding?" Judd sighed, "She's my better half."

Vicki smiled. The four adults and two children climbed into Alex and Joel's minivan and headed back to their house. Vicki was like a child with her nose pressed against the window as she took in the amazing views. Jesse just wanted to talk to Judd and ask him to say various things with his accent.

When they arrived at Alex and Joel's house, Vicki was exhausted, but not too exhausted to notice the view from the house. The beautiful home was situated right on the beach and the moonlight was glimmering on the ocean. Vicki's eyes nearly fell out of her head. It was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen.

Alex and Joel showed them to their room and let them have their well earned rest.

"I can't believe this place." Vicki yawned, "Ridiculously gorgeous."

"You're ridiculously gorgeous." Judd smirked.

"That's really sweet, but I'm too tired for flirting." Vicki laughed tiredly.

"It really is amazing though." Judd said, "I can't wait to see that beach in the daylight."

"I can't wait to see this church." Vicki said.

Judd laughed, "You are always so much more spiritual aren't you?"

"Hey!" Vicki scolded.

"I'm kidding. I can't wait to see it either."

Vicki yawned, "Is travelling this far always this tiring?"

She climbed into bed and snuggled down into the covers. Judd climbed in next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Pretty much." He replied, "No one I'd rather be this tired with than you."

Vicki smiled as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Thanks dudes.**


	20. Chapter 19: Meanwhile Back in the States

**Meanwhile, back in the States...**

* * *

Shelly spread an array of pictures out in front of her on the table. Pictures of bouquets, dresses, venues, make-up ideas, hair inspiration, color schemes; all her wedding planning inspiration. She tilted her head to the side and smiled at her pictures. Then she caught a glance of her engagement ring and smiled wider. She tipped her hand sideways to watch as the sun gleamed off the diamond.

"Nice ring." Came a voice from behind her, "Whoever bought you that must be quite a catch."

Shelly smiled, when she recognized the voice of her fiancé. He kissed her on the top of her head.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Trying to decide between the roses or the lilies for the table centerpieces." She said holding up two pictures.

Conrad looked at them thoughtfully and then shrugged, "Flowers are flowers."

Shelly elbowed him, "No they're not. This is a big decision."

Conrad laughed internally, "Whatever ones you decide will be the right ones.

Conrad had remembered Judd saying to him once after he and Vicki had had an argument that whatever he did, if he told Vicki she was right, the argument ended a lot quicker. Conrad found that Shelly was wired much the same way.

"By the way, you're not allowed to see some of these!" Shelly said, scrambling to cover the photos of dresses.

Conrad covered his eyes, "Fine, I'm not looking!"

She hid the photos. Shelly stood up and turned to face Conrad. She pulled his hands from his eyes and smiled at him.

"I love you." She said putting her hands on either side of his face and kissing him, "And I can't wait to be your wife."

"Eight months." He said with a grin, "Soon."

"Not soon enough." Shelly pouted, "I hope the next eight months fly. I want to be married to you. I want to share a home with you, I want you to be the last thing I see when I fall asleep and the first thing I see when I wake up."

"I want those things too." Conrad kissed her.

"Easy kids, wedding's not for eight months yet." A voice broke the silence and the two broke apart and blushed when they saw Mark smirking at them.

"What's up Mark?" Conrad asked.

"A bunch of us are going to dinner in town tonight, you two in?" Mark asked.

"Who's a bunch of us?" Shelly asked.

"Well me, Melinda, Ryan, Darrion, Janie, John and Lionel."

"Sure, I'm in." Conrad said.

* * *

Later that evening, the group of them went into town and found a nice Italian restaurant. Shelly and Conrad sat next to each other on the booth side with Ryan and Darrion next to them. Opposite them sat Janie, Melinda, Mark, John and Lionel.

"How's the wedding planning going you two?" John asked.

"Fine." Shelly responded.

"Uh I was talking to them." John laughed, nodding at Ryan and Darrion.

"Shut up." Ryan said going bright red.

Everyone laughed.

"I swear there must have been something in the water in the young trib force." Lionel laughed shaking his head.

"You mean Wormwood?" Mark joked.

"Very funny." Lionel said, "I mean, first it was Judd and Vicki, then Conrad and Shelly, now Ryan and Darrion. Who's next?"

"You know who'd make a cute couple?" Janie piped up, "Mark and Melinda."

Mark shifted awkwardly and they shot a glance at each other, "Uh… no. I don't think that we would… really."

"Well you did save her life once, Mark." Darrion said, "That'd be a really cute story for the grandkids."

Melinda went bright red.

"I think we need to find someone for you Lionel." Ryan ribbed, "You're the only one of the original four unattached now."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." Lionel said. "I'm pretty happy going solo for now though."

* * *

The group finished their dinner and talked more about life, love and everything in between. Melinda was oddly quiet. No one really noticed, no one except Mark. He could tell she was ticked off and his suspicions were confirmed after everyone went their separate ways and Melinda stomped off down the street in a huff.

"Melinda!' Mark called after her tiredly.

"I'm not talking to you." She called behind her.

Mark upped his speed and caught up with her, 'Come on, Melinda. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" she spat, stopping and turning around to face him, "You didn't have to be so quick to deny that you could ever have feelings for me. I thought we had a nice little thing going, but you must think otherwise."

"Melinda," Mark sighed, "I thought you wanted to keep this quiet until we figured out where it was going."

Melinda groaned, "I did but… I don't know. You just seemed so… unimpressed with the idea of being with me."

"It was a cover, Melinda. I was _covering_ for us."

"Well maybe I don't want to cover it anymore." Melinda whispered.

"What are you saying."

"Mark… I really like you." Melinda said, "I've liked you since the day you saved my life… I think… maybe we should stop keeping this a secret."

"You saying you want to make it official?" Mark asked.

"I do." she replied.

A smile spread across Mark's face and he wrapped her into a hug, "Boy am I glad to hear that."

* * *

**WE GOT ANOTHER COUPLE OVER HERE FOLKS. HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN A THING? I dunno and I wrote it. Haha Sorry.. the more couples the better. Love yall! Poll: Who do you think Lionel would make a good couple with? Or is he better single?**


	21. Chapter 20: A Flutter

**Oh look, I'm updating again. Yes *fist-pump*.**

* * *

The first thing Vicki noticed when she woke up in the Davis' guestroom was how bright the sun was as it rose over the horizon. It came streaking through the window and blinded her in the face. She scrunched her eyes shut and covered her face with her arm. The second thing she noticed was how warm it felt coming through the glass.

"Ugh," she grunted rolling onto her back and kicking the quilt off herself, "I'm so hot!"

"Yeah you are." Judd laughed drowsily, still half asleep and facing away from her.

Vicki rolled her eyes and smiled, "You know what I mean."

Judd rolled on his back and looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "Hardly as bad as the heat wave though."

"I guess, but seriously that sun is ridiculous!" Vicki stood and stomped over to the window, to shut the blinds when she stopped in place and stared out the window in awe.

"What is it?" Judd asked getting out of bed.

"That sunrise." She said smiling, "I've never seen anything so amazingly beautiful."

The sun was rising over the ocean and was emitting an orange glow over the ocean and into the sky. It was a truly stunning sight. Judd watched over her shoulder and they just watched the sunrise in silence together.

"Isn't it funny," Vicki said, finally breaking the silence, "How you can miss something as simple as a peaceful, beautiful sunrise so much. I don't think I've watched a sunrise in… years."

"Australia has particularly beautiful sunrises." Judd mused, "And particularly hot summers."

"Going from a cold Illinois winter to a hot Sydney summer is quite a shock to the system." Vicki laughed.

Judd laughed, "Sure is."

Suddenly Vicki stopped and put her hands over her stomach, a strange look on her face. She was feeling… a strange sensation in her stomach.

"Vick, what's wrong?" Judd asked, heart beating nervously.

"Nothing…" she said, looking as though she was concentrating on something, "It's just…" a smile spread across her face, "I can feel the babies moving!"

Judd beamed, "Really?"

"Yeah, feel." She grabbed his hands and held them to her stomach.

"Whoa, I just felt one of them kicking!" he exclaimed.

Vicki grinned up at him, "That's our children."

The word sent shivers down his spine. _Children_. He was going to be a father.

"They're amazing. They're perfect." He smiled, "I can't wait to meet them."

He bent down and kissed her stomach twice, "I can't wait to meet you two. Daddy loves you so much."

Vicki was beaming from ear to ear at him, talking to her bump, "So does mommy."

Judd stood up, unable to wipe the grin off his face, "I love you so much."

"I love you so much too." She chuckled.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her long, and lovingly. He couldn't imagine a life any better than this.

* * *

"Hey John."

"What's up cuz?" John looked up from his bible at his cousin who was holding his head just a little bit higher than usual.

"Nothing much." Mark said casually, "Except I got me a girlfriend."

"Say what now?" John replied closing his bible.

"You heard." Mark said pouring a glass of juice.

"A girlfriend?" John said raising an eyebrow, "I didn't even think you liked anyone."

"Well, I don't tell you everything, John." Mark said taking a proud sip.

"Well, are you gonna tell me who it is?" John asked impatiently.

"We were trying to keep it on the down low, at least until we decided exactly what each of us wanted, but I think we figured it out last night… what we wanted." Mark explained.

"Is it someone I know?" John asked, "Wait, you say last night? But we were all at the restaurant last night. Wait, was it someone there?"

"Maybe."

"Mark!"

"Ok! Fine I'll tell you!" Mark surrendered, "It's Melinda."

"Melinda?" John repeated.

"Yeah."

"Wow," John said shaking his head, "I did not see that coming. Is that why she acted real weird when Janie said you'd make a great couple."

"Yeah," Mark replied, "She got ticked at me because of how quick I was to deny it."

"I see." John nodded, "So how long has this been a thing?"

"Well," Mark started, "She kinda admitted to me a couple months ago that she'd had a crush on me back during the Tribulation. I mean, I saved her life once when the GC were after her and I guess I was her knight in shining armor."

John scoffed, "Subtle… and modest."

"Hey, that what she told me."

"That's cheesy."

"Shut up, man." Mark scolded.

"Sorry, go on."

"Anyway, I'd always thought she was a cool girl. You know? I mean, she's super pretty and everything, but she had this boldness, and integrity that I found really attractive. She was a fighter, a fighter for her beliefs and values and whilst that wasn't a good thing when she was with and believed the GC, she was still a fighter for her beliefs when she got saved and started beliving Christ.

"It's funny how God does that." John said.

"Does what?"

"Well it's like he doesn't change all our personality traits when we get saved, he just redirects them into something good. Take Vicki for instance. She said before she was saved, she was a rebel, but she rebelled against her parents and God, but when she was saved, she was still a rebel, but she just rebelled against the GC which caused her to be able to fight evil and help save who knows how many people."

"Wow," Mark said, "That's so true. Anyway, we started hanging out together about two months ago, around Thanksgiving, and we were just, you know, getting to know each other, and the more I learnt about her, the more I liked her."

"That's cool man, I'm happy for you." John said.

"You don't sound that happy."

"I'm sorry, I just…" John sighed, "I just want to make sure you really do like her. I don't want you just jumping at the first chance to get a girlfriend because you're tired of being single and your friends are all coupling off."

"I take offence to that, John." Mark said, slamming the fridge, "What gives you the right to talk to me like I'm some stupid kid?"

"I'm not Mark, I'm just worried about you is all."

"Worried about me?" Mark spat, "I don't need you to worry about me ok? I like Melinda. She's cool. She's smart and funny and kind and beautiful and you're just sore because no one wants to go out with you!"

Mark knew that outburst was ridiculously childish and the second the words escaped his lips he wished he could swallow them back up again.

"You're acting like an idiot, Mark." John said matter-of-factly, "Do what you want. Go out with Melinda. Just make sure you _do_ like her and you aren't just being _desperate _because if you are and she likes you more than you like her, it will _hurt her_. And you're right, she is smart and funny and kind and beautiful and she doesn't deserve to be hurt by anyone."

"Dude, you're talking like _you_ have a big old crush on her or something." Mark said with a scoff.

John just looked at him and let out a big sigh, "See ya, Mark."

Mark was left alone in the kitchen completely confused. He shook his head in frustration. What was John all worked up over? _Did he like Melinda? _Mark wondered. _Or was he just looking out for me? Making sure I don't do anything stupid. _Mark sighed_, It wouldn't be the first time._

* * *

**So that's the latest! Oh my gosh Judd and Vicki just give me so many feelings! Ack! I've been listening to the LBTK Live-Action Audio series recently and I must say they're pretty good! Have any of you listened to them? The girl who plays Vicki is amazing! There are a few things that are added that are awesome like some cutesy Judd/Vicki scenes but there are also some weird changes that I don't like. For instance, Shelly seems to just disappear and she doesn't end up with Conrad. Conrad gets a huge crush on Darrion but Darrion ends up with Mark. Isn't that weird!? Anyway if you haven't listened to them I recommend you get them on iTunes or whatever and check it out. If you have heard them, what are your thoughts? xx**


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